Thorns of Winter
by Eileen-Wood90
Summary: The White Witch's niece seeks two things: power and escape from her evil aunt. Instead she finds trouble in the form of a rogue Wolf and certain human children. But are these obstacles actually leading her to what she needs most?
1. Helplessness

Author's Note: This was written in partnership with my friend Sibella, and is based off both the book and (more recent) movie versions of _The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe_. There will also be references to _The Magician's Nephew_.

The world of Narnia and all associated characters belong to C.S. Lewis and the wonderful people at Walden Media. I happen to own Chloe and Sibella owns Icis and Queen Ara's name. (Icis is pronounced like Isis.)

* * *

**Chapter 1: Helplessness**

Because of the air attacks on London, the 4 Pevensie children—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy—were sent to live in an eccentric professor's manor. They had never seen the professor since their arrival, but they did have the unpleasant acquaintance with Mrs. Macready. Every now and then they had the company of little Chloe Kirke, who was the professor's granddaughter. She was in between the ages of Edmund and Lucy, the two youngest, and she often corrected any fallacy Mrs. Macready would tell them about the professor—particularly those describing him as an uptight man who did not enjoy the company of children.

One day, all five chose to explore the house. They had just left a room where it was empty apart from an old wardrobe when Lucy scampered from behind, yelling,

"I'm back! I'm back! You don't have to look anymore, I'm right here!"

Her siblings and Chloe turned to look at her. Peter smiled teasingly.

"You're going to have to hide longer than that if you want us to come looking for you."

Lucy had a puzzled look on her face.

"But I've been gone for hours!" she protested.

"Don't be silly, it was only a couple of seconds," Susan scolded.

This sent Lucy off jabbering.

"But I _have_," she insisted. "I found this place called Narnia inside the wardrobe, and had tea with Mr. Tumnus the Faun, and…oh, come see for yourself."

The other children followed Lucy back into the room, Susan rolling her eyes and Edmund with that unpleasant smirk. Lucy opened the door to the wardrobe.

"See, in there," she said. Susan stepped forward and peeked inside. Finally she snorted and stepped back out.

"You goose," she commented, "the only wood in here is the back of this wardrobe." As she said this, she knocked on it.

Peter laughed nervously. "Good one, Lucy. You almost had us fooled there."

"But I wasn't making it up," Lucy complained. She was rather upset.

"Who ever said there was anything wrong with imagination?" Chloe piped up.

At that, Lucy burst into tears and ran out of the room.

"What'd I…oh! Oh, dear!" gasped Chloe.

Edmund, however, was laughing.

"Hey, Lucy, let us know if you find any more countries—like in the washroom cupboards or something!" he called after her maliciously. Peter, Susan, and Chloe glared at him.

"Stop that," snapped Peter.

"That's not funny," said Chloe simultaneously.

"Come on," said Susan, "let's go, let's drop it."

With that, they walked out, and Peter, after taking one last look at the back of the wardrobe, closed the door.

* * *

Elsewhere, in the wardrobe "country" Lucy had just been in, there _was_ a place called Narnia; however, Narnia was not a very pleasant place to visit at this particular time. When Lucy had first entered, she befriended a Faun named Mr. Tumnus who had helped her get back to her own world after telling her of the tyranny of the evil White Witch, Jadis.

Narnia was under an eternal curse of hard winter, where it always snowed, but it was never Christmas. Long ago, before Narnia was created, there was another world known as Charn, where Jadis and her older sister, Ara, shared sibling rivalry. They both craved strongly for power—and were in love with the same lord of their land. Queen Ara, before Jadis' anger had doomed their entire world to ruin and darkness, had an illegitimate daughter by this lord. When Jadis was awakened by a bell and hammer after a long time of a spell in slumber, so was her niece—16-year-old Princess Icis Coia.

When Jadis entered Narnia, she brought Icis to live in her icy palace—but not out of love for the child. Jadis despised young Icis, and kept her with her as her captive. Jadis had always called herself the rightful Queen of Narnia, but 4 empty Thrones in the castle of Cair Paravel waiting to be filled suggested otherwise.

At about the same time Mr. Tumnus and Lucy were hurrying back to the lamp-post to go through the wardrobe, they were spotted from way up in the trees by Icis, who had often come to visit the lamp-post. After watching Lucy and Mr. Tumnus depart, Icis was about to follow Lucy when suddenly, she looked in front of her to see a bright white whirlwind of snow until it formed into what looked like a Tree Spirit. Icis gasped, stepping back on other branches behind her and groping for her saber-like wand.

"You should not be here, Princess!" the spirit growled.

Before she could move, the spirit struck Icis hard in the jaw, knocking her off of her branch almost unconscious, her mouth full of blood. Icis, after bouncing off several branches, fell to the ground in a mound of snow, with more snow from the possessed tree's branches falling on her and covering her completely. With that, the Faun ran away before the young Princess would come out.

For a moment after the Tree Spirit had disappeared, Icis lay still on her back, her arms thrown over her head, her icy blue eyes now only slits, and her silver-blonde hair all messy and almost draping over her face. Suddenly, there were fast footprints followed by the howl of a Wolf. The footprints neared and finally stopped close by until Icis thought she could see black profiles of Wolves in the light of the lamp-post above them.

She could barely feel paws roughly digging the snow away from her until one Wolf dug the snow off of her face. He then bent down and sniffed her, his warm breath tickling her ear, and as she was beginning to regain consciousness, she felt the Wolf lick her cheek. Startled, Icis' eyes popped open, gazing into his familiar golden eyes. The Wolf smiled and laughed, revealing his white fangs.

"Today just wasn't your fortunate day, now, was it, Icis?" he growled, gently pawing away her veil of hair.

Consumed by her hatred for her evil aunt, Icis had always been bound and determined to escape Narnia to venture into the World of Men. Unfortunately, whenever she had come close to that lamp-post guiding her to freedom, the White Witch had always managed to find a way to catch up with her just in time to capture her again. This time, Jadis had Icis followed by her highly skilled secret police of Wolves led by their commander, Maugrim.

Icis glared at Maugrim and tried to sit up, but Maugrim quickly stepped over her so that his front paws were on either sides of her chest, forcing her to lie back down.

"Wait!" he snarled, snapping his jaws at Icis' face. "This means your crown." With that, Maugrim's jaws lunged for Icis' head, ripping her small, silver tiara from her tangled hair, followed by the other Wolves' laughter.

"No!" protested Icis, trying to grab her tiara back, "let go! Stop it!"

When Maugrim pulled it out of Icis' hair, he tossed it up spinning in the air and caught it again in his handsome snout. Maugrim stepped off of Icis and she sat up.

"Didn't the Queen tell you not to try and escape again?" he said casually through gritted teeth.

"Hmph! I could care less what she says!" snapped Icis. "She hates me just as much as I hate her!"

"Oh, _you'll_ care," growled Maugrim, glaring at her with hungry eyes, "when she gives you your punishment and you'll never get to run this far again!"

Icis' eyes flashed. The last time Icis had tried escaping Narnia and was brought back to Jadis' palace, Jadis threatened to turn her into a Wolf. Now fully aware of her end, Icis hung her head in defeat. Maugrim had always been her worst enemy under her aunt, and what was even worse, she lost and was going to become part of his wretched species.

"You should have thought of that beforehand, pet," said Maugrim. "Come, your aunt is waiting."

With that, Icis stood up, reluctantly letting the other Wolves bind her hands to take her back to the castle. As they went away, Icis looked back beyond the lamp-post, and all she could see beyond the trees was just more woods and no one in sight to help her.


	2. Smart Alecs, Broken Promises, and

Author's Note: Once again, written in partnership with Sibella. We do not own _The Chronicles of Narnia_ or any of the related characters. No matter how much wishful thinking we exercise, it all belongs to C.S. Lewis. Except for our characters: Chloe, Aidan, and Lark belong to me while Icis and Ellamae belong to Sibella. (Aidan is pronounced like Eye-dan and Icis, again, like Isis.)

* * *

**Chapter 2: Smart Alecs, Broken Promises, and a Great Cluster**

Over the next few days, things were miserable for Lucy. Chloe, who felt truly awful for what she had said earlier, did her best to make Edmund stop sneering. Of course, she wasn't very successful. Later, the kids were playing hide-and-seek and Susan was "It." Chloe was looking for a hiding place when she stumbled upon Lucy opening the wardrobe again.

"Lucy!" she hissed, startling Lucy. Lucy looked at her with an expression she couldn't read. Just then, they heard footsteps. "Oh, it's Susan!" Chloe gasped, and pulled Lucy inside the wardrobe.

Lucy wanted to visit Narnia again if possible. She, of course, didn't say this; she just pulled Chloe toward the back of the wardrobe with her.

"Ouch! How deep _is_ this wardrobe anyway?" Chloe suddenly backed into something hard and rough; very unlike the smooth, polished back of the wardrobe. She turned and saw she was leaning against a tree. She looked wide-eyed at Lucy, who was smiling—she had obviously allowed Chloe to bonk into the tree on purpose.

"You—you were telling the truth?" Chloe squeaked. Lucy nodded, smiling wider.

"Oh! Do you want to meet Mr. Tumnus?" Lucy asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Of course!" exclaimed Chloe, and the two girls set off into the forest of Narnia.

* * *

Meanwhile, between 2 towering, snowy mountains not far from the forest, was a huge palace covered in ice like almost everything else in Narnia. The courtyards were filled with silent, gray statues of Animals, Giants, Fauns, Centaurs, Unicorns, and other creatures, and a long flight of stairs let to the entrance of a great Throne Room. However, the Throne itself wasn't empty. The White Witch, Jadis, was sitting silently drumming her fingers on the armrest, when suddenly the Gates swung open, revealing a pack of Wolves, their leader unmistakably Maugrim. Among them was Icis, her hands bound and her head still hung in shame.

Jadis stood up, smiling maliciously at the incoming group, seeing the Wolves carrying Icis' crown and wand.

"Well, well, well," she said as the Wolves stopped in front of her and bowed, "what have we here, Maugrim?"

Icis' eyes made contact with Jadis' without lifting her head. For a moment, the Princess glared at the Witch, while no one said a word. Jadis glared back, coming closer to Icis; she stopped and grabbed her niece's chin, forcing her to look up. For a moment, Jadis studied Icis, especially her icy-blue eyes.

"Hmph! You stare at me with your mother's eyes," said Jadis. Almost to herself, she added, "Yes, Ara's stare was always dark and cold."

Icis' eyes lowered to Jadis' hand holding her chin, when Icis pulled away, out of the Witch's hold. Icis then lunged for Jadis' hand, almost biting her. Eyes flashing threateningly, Jadis pulled her hand away.

"That's funny," said Icis, now slightly struggling against the Wolves in control of holding the ropes binding her hands, "with your power to turn creatures into stone and a stare as cold as _yours_, one might mistake you for a _Gorgon_!"

Jadis' Dwarf, who was standing by her Throne, stifled a snort under his scarf. When the Witch heard him, she wheeled around and shot him a look, and he was silent again. She then turned toward Icis again.

"Well, aren't _you_ the clever one, Icis?" she said. "With teeth as sharp as yours, you'd make the perfect _Wolf_."

After that, everyone was silent. Maugrim and the other Wolves smiled maliciously; Icis was still, but Jadis' last remark sent a chill down her spine.

"And if you escape me," Jadis continued, "where will you plan to go?" Some of the Wolves growled at Icis who remained silent. "Well?" snapped Jadis. "Answer me!"

"If I may, your Majesty," interrupted Maugrim, "we followed the Princess to the lamp-post. And shortly before we found her, a certain Tree Spirit informed us of a Faun helping a—Daughter of Eve escape."

"What?!?" exclaimed Jadis.

Icis' eyes were wild, but the shock of Maugrim's awareness of Lucy and Mr. Tumnus now being told to Jadis left her motionless. Jadis smiled slyly at Maugrim and glared at Icis.

"So _that's_ where you'd escape to," she said, "the World of Men." Still, Icis was silent. Jadis and sighed, with the look that seemed to ask, "What to do with you…what to do with you…"

Icis waited with bated breath and a hard frown, hatred burning her iced blue eyes.

"Icis," Jadis said finally, "I'm giving you another chance."

Icis was stunned, and Maugrim's eyes were wide as his jaw dropped. However, Icis frowned.

"Is this some kind of trick?" she spouted.

"No," said Jadis, "in fact—it's a privilege."

"Your Majesty," said Maugrim, "I do object!"

"_You would!_" snarled Icis.

"Silence!" spoke up Jadis. "Maugrim, unhand the Princess—and reunite her with her possessions."

Maugrim and some of the Wolves were glaring at Icis who was smiling slyly back down at them. Reluctantly, the Wolf holding the ropes binding her hands let go of them. The other Wolves then let the other ropes go, and Icis stepped out of the pile of ropes at her feet.

"So, what's the idea?" she said, looking up at Jadis.

"I want you to wait by that lamp-post, so you can help me get—acquainted with this—Daughter of Eve."

Icis' brows rose. As the Wolves were backing slowly away, she and Jadis looked back at them.

"Hey!" snapped Icis. "Give me my crown and wand back!"

Maugrim stepped forward again, with Icis' things. Icis snatched them away and Jadis sent Maugrim and the other Wolves out.

"But you must make a promise to me, Icis," said Jadis.

"Spell it," said Icis.

"You must promise me to not try to escape again," said Jadis, "or the next time, I _will_ make you a Wolf."

Icis, at first, hesitated; she hated Jadis so strongly that she would leave Narnia and never come back, but then again, who said Icis has to keep this promise? Jadis probably wasn't planning to keep _hers_, and they were both equally powerful.

Again, Icis' brow rose, and her hard frown slowly twisted into a smile.

"All right," she said, "I won't…just as long as I'm treated as everyone calls me."

With that, Jadis bowed her head.

"Very well," she said. "You have my leave to go."

Icis turned, placing her crown on her head and hooking her wand on her belt again, and left the Palace.

The Princess set out into the forest once again, hoping to find some of her friends. As she glanced up in the trees, she thought she saw a flash of something pink.

One of the Wolves followed closely behind her, his silver fur sparkling with snowflakes. He was smirking to himself; apparently he was amused by Icis' performance in the Palace.

Icis stopped, hearing the Wolf's footsteps in the snow behind her, and spun around, whipping her wand out and pointing it at him.

"Stay where you are!" she snapped.

"Whoa, there, Princess, I'm not doing anything," said the Wolf, his eyes widening. "Maugrim wanted to follow you himself, but he got too tired and told someone else to, but they were too lazy. So they asked me to. 'Sure, make _Aidan_ do all the work,' I said, but of course, I went along with it. But never mind that, would you stop pointing that thing at me? I'd rather not be a statue."

Icis snorted. To her, Aidan was considered just another Wolf in Maugrim's police whose only functions were to keep her in line and obey her hated aunt, and she did not trust him.

"Hmph! If I turned _you_ into stone, you'd be one less Wolf in my way," said Icis.

Suddenly, Icis felt something land on her shoulder.

"Icis! I was so worried!" said a somewhat small voice in her ear. "I was expecting you to go in that Palace and not come out again!"

Icis turned her head and smiled.

"Hello, Ellamae," she said to the little Fairy on her shoulder.

Aidan smirked. "Her Majesty wouldn't do that. She needs Icis. Of course, I don't trust _Her_ not to turn her into a Wolf anyway." He stopped and looked ashamed of himself. "I shouldn't have said that."

Ellamae Kyandi, a Fairy who was 13 years of age and no bigger than a kitten, had pink wings with dark-turquoise trim and pink-orange hair with pink bangs and wearing a colorful gown whose skirt was knee-length. Her pink-and-blue eyes were sparkling excitedly as she made herself comfortable on Icis' shoulder, glad she was with her friend again.

"I heard from a red bird that you were caught by the lamp-post and taken back to the Palace!" she said. "What happened? Who did you see?"

Icis' brows rose. Glancing at Ellamae, she once again sheathed her wand.

"Who did _I_ see?" she replied. "Just a Faun."

"Daughter of Eve, too, according to Ol' Grim," added Aidan, smirking.

Ellamae gasped as her eyes widened.

"Really, Icis?" she asked, her blue antennae perking up and tickling Icis' ear as the little Fairy lightly tugged on a little handful of Icis' hair. "A real _Human_? What did it look like?"

"Ah, well, she wasn't much—just a short little thing in a dress and knobby knees," said Icis as she and Aidan were now strolling along a frozen pond, barely seeing profiles of their reflections through a thin, sparkling sheet of snow.

"I've always wanted to see a Human," said Ellamae, mostly to herself. "Say, Icis, where are we going, by the way?"

"Back to the lamp-post to do my job," replied Icis, "if Aidan'll ever decide to get lost," she added, shooting a look at Aidan.

"What, and directly disobey Ol' Cap'n Grim's orders?" Aidan scoffed. "No, I really don't feel like blowing my cover today, thank you very—OH! I should NOT have said that! Forget I was even talking!"

He gazed fearfully at Icis' and Ellamae's shocked faces.

Icis' eyes flashed, and then rolled in annoyance.

"Whose side are you on, anyway?" she asked the shocked Wolf. "I'm so used to thinking all Wolves are just scavengers sent from that cursed woman of an aunt of mine, but surprisingly, I'm beginning to wonder about you, Aidan."

Ellamae was somewhat used to listening to Icis arguing with Wolves and often ignored it. As she let her bright eyes wander the snow-covered forest, she suddenly heard the faint jingling of bells and then a halt. The little Fairy's wings fluttered as she gasped, terrified at what that might be. She tugged on Icis' hair again.

"Icis," she whispered, her wing ticking Icis' ear, "did you hear what I heard?"

Icis' ear twitched as she looked away from Aidan, glanced at Ellamae, and looked out toward the forest. Suddenly, she heard a familiar female's voice.

"Aw, my poor child," she said in a soothing tone, "how cold you look! Come and sit with me here on my sledge, and you'll be nice and warm under my mantle, so we can talk."

Icis gasped and clapped a hand to her mouth, recognizing who that was.

"Oh, no," she said, "I hope I'm wrong on this one."

Icis unsheathed her wand and began running through the snow and hid behind a tree. She peeked around a corner, and she was, unfortunately, correct: Jadis with her sledge drawn by her white reindeer and controlled by her hated Dwarf, but there was something a little different—Jadis was in her sledge, but with a short little someone huddling close to her under her mantle, happily eating some Turkish Delight out of a round box with a fancy, green, silk ribbon.

"A _Son of Adam_?" hissed Icis, staring at the boy.

"Oh, no…" moaned Aidan, but whether it was about the Son of Adam with the White Witch or about the fact that he had blown his cover, no one could tell.

Icis' heart made a giant leap into her throat as she sheathed her wand, took a handful of Aidan's soft hide with one hand, and snatched Ellamae by her wing with the other.

"Get _down_!" she hissed, diving behind some tall, thick bushes and pulling Aidan and Ellamae down with her, as to avoid being seen.

"Ow!" hissed Aidan. "I _am_ on your side, in case you haven't noticed, so what was that for?"

When the 3 of them hit the ground, Icis' face was partially buried in powdery snow, but nearly choked trying to keep quiet after hearing what Aidan said. She looked up at him, stunned, while Ellamae struggled with her wing caught between Icis' 2 fingers.

"_What_ did you say?" hissed Icis.

"I'm on your side, and I definitely shouldn't have said so," whispered Aidan, then whimpered slightly. "What if the trees heard me…?"

"What?" whispered Icis; she forgot about the Tree Spirit that got her in trouble at this same spot. She and Aidan looked at each other and then up at the trees that were now being rustled by a cold breeze; their short conversation probably _had_ reached the trees' attention.

Icis lay lower, pulling Aidan and Ellamae down further, only this time gripping Aidan by the muzzle to keep his mouth shut. Ellamae fluttered her free wing, keeping her face out of the snow as best she could.

"Icis," she whispered, "let's get out of here, we'll get in trouble for sure!"

"Sshh!" whispered Icis. "Wait a minute!"

"Please, your Majesty," said the Son of Adam with Jadis, "can't I have a little more Turkish Delight to take home with me?"

"Oh, no, Edmund," replied Jadis with a pleasant smile, "not yet. First, you must go back and bring your brother and sisters to me. And if you come back alone, I shall be very angry."

"This is not good," Aidan muttered through gritted teeth.

Icis glared at Aidan. "No, really?" she whispered through gritted teeth herself.

Ellamae wiggled out of Icis' grip and crawled onto a snowy rock, flapping her wings to allow the blood to get back into them. She peered through a bush's branches and gasped.

"Icis," she whispered, "look!"

Icis and Aidan looked from each other to where Jadis and Edmund were, only to see sledge tracks in the snow.

"They're gone!" cried Icis, jumping to her feet and letting go of Aidan's muzzle.

The 3 of them jumped out from behind the bushes when Icis noticed small holes in the snow.

"Look, guys!" said Icis, pointing at the ground. "The Son of Adam's footprints! Come on!" At this, Icis started to run, with Edmund's footprints alongside her and Ellamae flying not too far behind her.

Aidan hesitated, but followed them anyway.

Icis' feet were sinking through the snow, following Edmund's footprints in haste, until suddenly two creatures ran out in her path just ahead. It was Lucy leading Chloe by the hand in the same direction of Edmund's footprints. Icis stopped abruptly in her tracks and gasped, with Ellamae able to catch up to her friend and perch on her shoulder.

"Who's that?" cried Ellamae, grabbing Icis' hair with one hand and pointing toward Lucy and Chloe ahead with the other.

"Two Daughters of Eve!" blurted Icis. "They're probably going after their brother! Come on, let's go!"

With that, Icis, Ellamae, and Aidan proceeded.

"I don't like this," Aidan muttered, but he was ignored.

Suddenly Lucy gasped; the two girls had spotted Edmund.

"Edmund!" cried Lucy, smiling. "You got in, too! Isn't it wonderful?"

Icis kept running, Ellamae fluttering her wings excitedly, until she stopped again, seeing Edmund, Lucy, and Chloe.

"Lucy!" cried Edmund, surprised. "All right, I owe you an apolo—" Edmund grunted as his little sister came forward and hugged him.

"Look, Icis," whispered Ellamae in Icis' ear, "_Three_ of them!"

"Yeah, three of them," Icis repeated. "But I haven't seen _her_ before." Her eyes were now fixed on Chloe.

"Don't think she's even related to them, do you?" mumbled Aidan. "Don't look anything alike…"

Chloe, at this point, was giggling at Edmund. "Shouldn't have made fun of her, should you?"

Icis was thoughtful. "Well, maybe she's not—" Suddenly she snorted and looked at Aidan—"now, _how _would you know _that_?"

"Well, like I just said, they don't look anything alike. Okay, so they've all got dark-ish hair, but her hair's curly and none of the facial features are similar to theirs at all." Aidan explained. "Then again, that doesn't count as anything. My sister, Lark, you'd never guess she's my sister—except for the eyes and her being a Wolf too."

"Oh, I see, and you're an expert at this sort of thing, are you, Aidan?" snapped Icis, frustrated. "You've never even _seen_ a Human before, and you're telling—OW! Ellie, _what_?!?" Icis was interrupted as Ellamae yanked on her hair.

"Look! There they go!" said Ellamae, pointing ahead.

Icis and Aidan looked ahead to see the three children proceeding to the wardrobe.

"Hey!" cried Icis. "Children! W-Wait for us!"

At this, Icis began running again, but stopped after a few yards when seeing a perfect view of the wardrobe door and the three children running through it.

"Come on!" sported Ellamae excitedly. "Let's go!"

Aidan was having a major internal conflict at the moment. He didn't want to leave Narnia, but he would look like he wasn't loyal to Maugrim if he didn't follow Icis and Ellamae. So he decided to go with them.

"Come on, Ellie!" sported Icis happily. "We're out of Narnia!"

Just a few moments after Lucy, Chloe, and Edmund disappeared into the wardrobe, Icis, at full speed, with Aidan following close behind, plunged in the door, landing in a bunch of branches and coats pulled off their hangers. When Icis and Aidan sat up, Narnia was gone, and they were in the darkness of the closet.

Aidan collapsed, out of breath. "Where—the—bloody—heck—are—we?!?" he gasped. "What—kind—of—world—is this?"

Icis landed face-first in four fur coats and she lifted her face, gasping for air. She then saw Aidan. "Hey!" she yelled. "_You_ came, _too_? NO!!!"

Aidan caught his breath, laughing. "How could you not want _me_ around!?" he whined over-enthusiastically.

A fluffy hat landed on Icis' head from a shelf above her that she angrily ripped off and hurled at the wall. "You miserable, good-for-nothing beast!" she sputtered at Aidan. "You Wolves want a piece of me? I ought'a—I—I—" Icis had her wand out, ready to strike the Wolf, when she stopped, stared at him for a moment, and lowered it. She frowned, drew a heavy sigh, and folded her arms, now looking thoughtful at him raising his eyebrows at her, waiting for the worst. "Well," she said, "you _are_ only _one_ Wolf, not the entire pack, and you seem to be less harmful to me than I thought, anyway. I'll spare your life if you spare me any funny business, got that? From now on, you're loyal to no one but me, because we're _all_ out of Narnia, and my goal is to _stay_ out." With that, she resheathed her wand.

"Okay, one—funny is my thing. It's what I do. Two—I'm loyal to Aslan only. Got a problem with that?" Aidan snapped.

Icis' eyes flashed at Aidan and she opened her mouth, but her voice was dead. Whenever Jadis and her followers heard Aslan's name, they shuddered; most Narnians were dreamy-eyed and happy, but whenever Icis heard it, she was curious, frightened, and heavy-hearted.

Staring into Aidan's eyes, Icis swallowed hard trying to moisten her now dry mouth and blinked several times to try hiding her tears from the Wolf, but it was no use.

"Aslan?" she sobbed. "If _he_ cared about Narnia, he wouldn't have left." With that, she broke down completely.

"Well, he's not a tame Lion," Aidan answered. "He can leave as he wishes. But he always comes back when needed—see, that's what Lark and the others are waiting for."

"And back in Narnia," sobbed Icis, "there _I_ was waiting along with them. And I got tired of waiting. That's why we're here—I couldn't take it anymore." She hung her head.

Aidan didn't know what to say. "Well—_I'm_ only here because Maugrim said to follow you—and if I didn't, my undercover jig would be up."

Icis lifted her head again and she wiped her tears. "Wow," she said, "you have a lot of faith in this Aslan, don't you?" She sniffed and then arose from the coats. Then suddenly, she gasped and swiveled her head around. "Hey, where's—where's Ellamae? We've gotta get outta here!"


	3. The Snow Princess in all her Fury

Disclaimer: We don't own Narnia! Darn it! Sad day... C.S. Lewis, we envy you.

Chloe and Aidan are mine. Icis, Ellamae, Fritz (the blond kid who finds Ellamae), and Einar are Sibella's.

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Snow Princess in all her Fury**

The next morning, the Pevensies were playing cricket outside. Chloe stood off to the side, her back to a tree, looking extremely irritable. Edmund had denied being in Narnia last night, making her and Lucy out to be liars. And Peter and Susan stupidly believed him.

So disgusted, Chloe couldn't stand to be around the three of them. Sighing deeply, she set back for the mansion in a swift trot.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the attic, the wardrobe experienced periodical bumps and shaking as Icis and Aidan kept stumbling and bumping into the walls, trying to find a way out. Finally the wardrobe doorknob rattled furiously.

"I need air!" hissed Icis. "We _must—have—AIR!_" The door swung open with a loud bang and coats and hats spilled out onto the floor. Next, out burst Icis and Aidan, gasping for air. "Finally!" panted Icis with a hoarse voice. "I _knew _we'd get out sooner or later! Ha!" She then finally sighed and collapsed, lying flat on her stomach in a coat. "We made it," she panted, but now a little slower, "but…Ellamae…we haven't found…her _anywhere_ yet. She _couldn't_ have just disappeared into nothing!"

* * *

Thinking of nothing else worthwhile to do, Chloe trudged to the wardrobe room with a heavy heart. She wanted to try and get in Narnia again. Instead, she came into the room to see the wardrobe door open, Icis sprawled on the floor, and—a Wolf.

Chloe screamed.

Icis shot up, her heart pounding, and jumped with a yelp, hugging Aidan. She then looked Chloe over and recognized her.

"D-Daughter of Eve!" shouted Icis, trying to compete with Chloe's screaming. "We're—we're not gonna hurt you! Just settle down! Settle down! ...UGH! This is _not working_!" Icis got up, lunged at Chloe, and slapped a hand over her mouth to silence the screaming child. "Aidan! Quick! Shut that door!"

Aidan went for the door, but Chloe wrenched away from Icis and beat him to it, running out and screaming, "PETER!!!!"

As Chloe pulled away, Icis stumbled forward and tripped, plunging into Aidan on the floor. They both slid into the door, slamming it shut with a loud thud.

"OW! That little—did-did you see that?!? She GOT AWAY!" burst Icis.

"Really? I thought she just ran out the door screaming," teased Aidan.

Icis whipped around and shot a nasty, glaring look at Aidan. She then ripped the door open. "If you make any more jokes like that," she shouted through gritted teeth, "I'll _kill_ you! Come on!" With that, she tore out the door.

Aidan snickered to himself and bounded after her. He supposed he really should stop with the jokes, not because he feared for his life but because Icis was tormented enough already.

* * *

When Icis and Aidan plunged through the doorway into the wardrobe, Ellamae clung to Icis' hair with one hand and tried to keep her bumpy seat on Icis' shoulder with the other when suddenly a whirlwind of golden light was swirling around her, ripping her away from her friend.

As Ellamae flapped her wings furiously, she was pulled upward into more light, and saw sparks like stars come together until they formed the head of a roaring Lion. Ellamae gasped and covered her face—then the light disappeared and she was in free-fall. The little Fairy uncovered her face and screamed, trying to flap her wings for balance and reaching out in front of her, trying to grasp the air, but a cold, dark wind kept pulling her downward.

Ellamae looked below her to see a dim light, and when she reached it, the darkness completely cleared, plunging onto a cold, crunchy ground. _Frosted grass!_

When all was quiet, Ellamae opened her eyes and sat up with a cold gust of wind to greet her.

_Am I back in Narnia?_ she thought. She looked all around, but neither the wardrobe nor anyone she knew were anywhere to be seen. She was sitting beside a frosty dirt road, behind her was a wooden fence stretching from left to right as far as the eye could see, and in the distance was a hill with an old barn.

Ellamae hugged her knees together and shivered, her wings fluttering and her teeth chattering. She buried her face and tried to warm herself with her breath, but it wasn't much use; her arms twitched and tingled as she felt her antennae droop down over them.

Suddenly, her antennae perked up again when she heard a noise like cracking just down the road that sounded like it was coming closer. Ellamae lifted her head, her antennae up and twitching excitedly and her eyes darting everywhere for any sign of movement until way down the road she saw something gliding around a hill, cracking and chugging, but it was dark and she couldn't tell yet what it was.

As she got up to dust herself off, she looked behind her to see a rock, and she quickly flitted around it to hide. When she rounded the corner of it, she yelped and skidded to a halt, seeing another rock, but it had a much smoother-looking surface with threads crossing over it.

The cracking object was finally close and loud enough, and suddenly the noise stopped. Ellamae threw herself against the rock in front of her, but her antennae were almost immediately tangled into the crisscross net of threads. As she tried to untangle herself, she heard something sharp scratch against metal, a hard thud on the crunchy, frostbitten grass, a sniffing nose…and a bark.

_A Wolf!_ Ellamae's antennae shot straight and her wings perked up and fluttered insanely. The footsteps of the Dog bounded around the corner of the rock and Ellamae swiveled her head around, looking into a great pair of jaws.

"Einar!" called a deep but young-sounding voice.

Ellamae gasped, her heart pounding, as she was finally able to untangle her antennae from the threads but her skirt was now caught.

The Dog's snarling, curled lip relaxed and his face softened as he began excitedly sniffing the Fairy, its breath tickling her wings and face and her long hair swishing around.

"Einar!" called the voice again, but it was now right above her. Ellamae looked up into two round, dark holes pointed at her, and above them was a large, pale face with clear blue eyes and a black helmet.

_Another Son of Adam!_

Unlike the pajamas, slippers, and fur coats that Edmund, Lucy, and Chloe were wearing, this boy was wearing a mostly black uniform, black gloves, black boots, and on the sides of his arms were what liked like emblems of one sign—the outline of a black key with a black bolt of lightning running horizontally through the key. He also looked to be around Icis' age, and perhaps had the same height as well. Then he said something in a language Ellamae had never heard before as he pulled his Dog named Einar away from her. He lowered his strange, slender weapon and started at the little Fairy in utmost amazement.

Ellamae didn't know what to do in this very awkward moment of silence; only a few moments ago, she was with Icis and Aidan about to go through the wardrobe doorway out of Narnia, and all of a sudden she is spirited away to another land covered in frost, staring up into the face of another Son of Adam who didn't seem to speak her language and had a Dog companion that didn't seem to speak at all. Feeling at her wit's end, her wings and antennae drooped and fell limp as she was getting dizzy. As the boy knelt down and reached for her, she fainted.

* * *

Icis darted out of the attic room with Aidan not too far behind, finding herself in a long hallway full of closed doorways, framed paintings on the walls, and a few suits of armor. Just down the end of the hall she had her back to, Icis heard Chloe's voice still screaming the name "Peter"…

_…whoever _that _is_, she thought, another _Son of Adam?_ She snorted. _She's probably going to bring her big brother back to try and beat me up. This'll be interesting._

She was about to follow Chloe when she turned around to make sure Aidan was still with her.

"C'mon, Aidan," she said, smirking a little, "sounds like she's going to try and sick her big brother on us."

With that, she and Aidan continued down the hall, listening out for Chloe's voice.

Aidan walked with Icis, but had to ask curiously, "Um…and why exactly do we need to find her anyway?"

"Well, to have her tell us about this world, of course!" replied Icis. "Besides, I want her to know that we're not going to hurt her or her siblings…unless they want to cause trouble for us. And she's one of the first three children of Men we saw! She's got a _little_ significance, don't you think?"

"Maybe a little…I still don't think she was related to the other two, I'm telling you, no similar features whatsoever. Do any of the other ones have green eyes like hers?" Aidan insisted.

Icis rolled her eyes at Aidan when hearing more of his ramblings on possible details about the Humans that were probably insignificant, be they true or not. "Who cares?!" she blurted finally. "Will you _stop_ with these annoying little details that relate nothing to _us_? They're _just_ a _litter_ of _Humans_! Now, come _on_, before we lose her!" With that, she turned away from Aidan and ran down to the end of the hall again.

* * *

Chloe was outside by this point and ran straight for Peter, who in fact wasn't her big brother but he was the oldest and she felt the safest with him.

"Peter!" she yelled. "Me and Lucy, we weren't crazy or making it up after all! It's there!"

Peter watched Chloe with a little annoyance. "Not that again—" he started to say but was interrupted by Chloe seizing his arm so tightly he wouldn't be surprised if she was cutting off his circulation.

"There was a wolf and a snow princess-looking girl and _everything_! Come on, I'll _show_ you!" she nearly screeched.

By now, Icis and Aidan reached a flight of stairs, came down, and found a doorway leading to the backyard, where they had a perfect view of Chloe, Lucy, and Edmund, with two other children who looked a great deal older.

Icis caught Lucy's gaze, and Lucy's eyes widened.

"Look! Look!" cried Lucy, tugging on Peter's sleeve and pointing. "Chloe's right! There they are! They're coming out to us!"

Everyone looked at Lucy and into the doorway. At seeing Icis and Aidan, all their mouths fell open, amazed. Icis stiffened, her own eyes widening in awkward silence.

Aidan just grinned at the children as if it was a casual introduction. "Hello there, Sons of Adam," he greeted cheerfully.

Chloe shrieked. "It talks, too!"

"Well, thanks for the narration, sweetheart, but we can all see that," Aidan snickered.

Peter blinked a couple times before hitting Edmund. He then glanced at Lucy and Chloe and at Icis and Aidan. After staring at Icis a few moments more, he cleared his throat. "And—who-who are you?" he stammered.

Icis stifled a chuckle. _Is this Peter, the big brother who's supposed to protect the little ones from me?_ she thought, smirking. _They've got to be joking; he looks scared to death of me!_

"I am Icis, Princess of Charn," she answered. "You're Peter, I presume?"

She then strode out the door into the backyard towards the Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve.

Peter nodded to Icis. "Yes…that would be me…" He glared at Edmund as if to say, _"You're a dead man."_

Susan's eyes widened with an expression mixed with surprise and a little disbelief. "_You're a Princess_?" she asked Icis.

"I most certainly am," replied Icis, raising her eyebrows snobbishly at Susan. "I am the daughter of my cursed aunt Queen Jadis' late older sister, Ara, and one of the finest nobles of the late House of Charn, but ever since my aunt had Narnia conquered, I have been a Princess there as well…or _prisoner_, rather, up until now. But anyway, Aidan"--she gestured to the Wolf beside her—"and I have escaped Narnia for a new life in the World of Men." Halting in front of Peter and Susan, with Lucy, Edmund, and Chloe huddling behind them, she added with a sly smile, "And before long, with your help, my Wolf friend and I will know all about it."

Peter stared at Icis, not really knowing what to think of this tall girl who couldn't be much older than himself. What kind of things did she and the Wolf want to know about the "World of Men," anyway?

He took a deep breath. "Look, Princess…whatever you called yourself…now isn't really a good time to talk. Edmund just hit a ball through that window"--he pointed at the window in case she wanted proof—"and we better get inside and out of the way before the Macready notices anything. And I wouldn't want her to see you and your Wolf friend, either, if I were you. She can be quite nasty, so why don't you join us?"

Icis' brows raised. _Is he retarded?_ she thought. "Well, I don't _care_ what'll happen to _you_, and my name is Icis, not 'Princess-whatever-I-called-myself,' and I assure you, I can be a lot nastier than this…Macready or whatever she is. Is she some sort of witch or something?" As she started to have a little more fun, she continued. "And since I'm not 'Princess-whatever-I-call-myself' and my name is Icis, you can address me as you would _properly_ address royalty under kings and queens. So you can call me something much more fitting, such as 'Your Highness'…or, if I strike lucky here in the World of Men, you could call me 'Your Majesty,' once I am queen."

Though the younger children all smirked at the suggestion that the Macready was a witch, they were shushed by Peter and Susan, who listened to Icis with cold silence until she was finished.

Peter, with his arms folded, now watched her with a scowl. "Right. Icis. Thanks for letting me know that you don't have our best interests at heart. Now I can say with no guilt whatsoever that we have no intention of telling you anything about our world—not a thing. You want to try and conquer our world, fine. You'll be doing it without our help, and there will be no 'Your Highness' nonsense except on the small chance you prove yourself worthy of it." He attempted to nod politely as he stepped toward the manor, expecting the others to follow suit. "Good luck with that."

"Oooh," Aidan muttered, wincing at the severity of Peter's words. He waited to see how Icis would respond before he said or did anything more, and he had a feeling this wasn't going to be pleasant.

Icis' eyes flashed and then turned into slits, her face and neck growing hot as her anger rose. Once Peter had finished, her hand went for her wand at her belt. "You insufferable, rotten, filthy dog! _How dare_ you talk to me like that! Do you have any clue what I can do to you right now, Son of Adam?"

When the children heard that, Susan was one of the first to turn around when she saw Icis pulling her dagger-like wand from her belt. She gasped and pulled on Peter's arm. "Peter, let's go, quick!"

Icis started storming towards the children, brandishing her wand and pointing it at Peter's back, leaving Aidan behind on the lawn. "You'll learn respect the hard way!" she barked at Peter.

Peter whirled to face Icis as the girls screamed and Edmund's eyes widened with horror, glad that he already knew to respect Narnian royalty.

But before Icis could strike, Aidan lunged at her with a fierce growl and seized her wand in his mouth, careful not to touch the tip lest he be turned to stone.

"Sorry, Princess, can't let you do that," he said through gritted teeth, keeping a firm hold on the wand as he then addressed the children, "Run!"

No sooner had he said this, and the children had run, did the worst possible scenario occur: Mrs. Macready came out of the house, scowling at the passing children and demanding, "What in heaven's name is going on out here?" Just then, she stopped in her tracks, having seen Icis and Aidan.

"Oh, now isn't this a fortunate turn of events?" the Wolf mumbled sarcastically, hoping the Macready woman wouldn't hear him speak.

Icis lunged at Aidan, knocking him down and the wand flinging from his mouth into the grass. She then grabbed a handful of Aidan's hide with one hand and his snout with the other and brought his face up to hers so they were eye-to-eye.

"And I was just starting to like you, Aidan," she snarled, and she threw him down and retrieved her wand.

Mrs. Macready strode out onto the lawn towards Icis, furious. "Excuse me, young lady," she called, "what are you doing here? And what do you think you're supposed to be with that knife?"

Icis whirled towards Mrs. Macready, pointing her wand at the old woman. "Keep your distance, witch!" she barked, and Mrs. Macready stopped in her tracks. "I can be a lot worse than you see me yet!" With that, she turned to follow Chloe and the Pevensies.

"No kidding!" Aidan couldn't resist saying out loud before he ran ahead of Icis to find the children and defend them again, if necessary—and it probably was.

Mrs. Macready cut herself off from saying anything else once she heard the Wolf speak and she walked away, muttering something about needing to wash her face and call animal control afterwards.

Icis glanced at Aidan with a glare and smiled wickedly after Mrs. Macready. _That's right,_ she thought, _keep walking and don't look back._ With that, she started towards Aidan and the human children.

"Hey, I'm not finished with any of you!" called Icis, storming into the house to look for the children.

As she entered the house, she was just in time to see Aidan following the human children up the stairs she came down from the wardrobe room. She gasped, but continued to follow them in her fury, as far as she could.

* * *

The children ran straight into the wardrobe room and shut the door as soon as Aidan was in with them, groaning as soon as he realized their intentions to stop there.

"Try hiding in the wardrobe. She won't follow you in there. Trust me," he told them, causing all of them to look at him at once.

"Not that ridiculous wardrobe again—" Susan scoffed.

Aidan snickered at her. "That wardrobe isn't so ridiculous if _I'm_ here, is it? What do you think me and the snow witch are, a hallucination that all of you just happen to be seeing? It's simple logic, sweetheart."

Peter shrugged and opened the door to the wardrobe. "Well. Can't argue with a talking Wolf," he smirked. "Come on."

("He shouldn't even be saying anything!" Susan protested, but at this point she was ignored.)

* * *

As some of the other servants in the house were starting to hear all the commotion, Icis raced back up the staircase, skipping steps as she ran along, and keeping her wand brandished and pointed out in front of her for anyone else in her way.

As she made it to the landing, she was once again in the hallway where the room with the wardrobe was, and saw the tip of Aidan's tail round the corner of the door before it slammed. Icis recognized it as the wardrobe room and froze.

At the other end of the hallway, Icis saw a thin old man staring at her, looking astonished and a little horrified at her wand; she could even hear him gasp, and he looked at her as if trying to study her face.

Finally the old man asked, "Don't I know you?" At first Icis did nothing but stare at him as if he were insane. Then, suddenly, she absentmindedly closed her eyes and saw her aunt, the White Witch—Jadis—in her mind, as she was in Charn.

She remembered when she was frozen in sleep for a thousand years in the ruins of their old palace, until being reawakened by the Bell and the Hammer...a Son of Adam and a Daughter of Eve were there, too...

_I followed them out of the palace,_ thought Icis, staring at the man, _and that's when I was taken...prisoner in Narnia..._

With that, she backed away from the door to the wardrobe room and ran back down the stairs. As a few other maids in the house were coming out to meet the professor, Icis tore out the door and ran out into the forest.


	4. Rescuing Ellamae and the Results Thereof

The usual disclaimer: Somebody by the name of C.S. Lewis owns the wonderful world of Narnia, not us.

Gladly, we do own Chloe, Aidan, Icis, Ellamae, Fritz, Einar, and the colonel.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Rescuing Ellamae and the Results Thereof**

By now, the children had stumbled out of the wardrobe and into Narnia. Aidan tried, but unsuccessfully, to stifle his laugh at the looks on Peter's and Susan's faces. Though they now were aware of its existence, actually seeing it was a different matter.

"Don't worry," Lucy told them, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm sure it's only your imagination."

"Yeah, the only wood here is the back of the wardrobe, remember?" Chloe added with a giggle.

Peter looked at the two with probably the most ashamed-of-himself face Aidan had ever seen. "I doubt a simple apology would cut it."

Susan slowly stood up, staring up at the tall trees around them, and glanced back at the wardrobe entrance behind them. She then looked at Chloe and Lucy again and sighed. "Well, Peter," she said, "I don't think you're the only one who owes them an apology. I'm sorry too, Lucy." Turning on Edmund, glaring, she added, "And what about you, Ed? Lucy said you were with her and you said it was only part of her 'little game.' Well, what have you to say for yourself now?"

Peter turned to Edmund and smacked him before he could answer. "Apologize. Now!"

Edmund rubbed his arm where Peter had hit him harder than usual and glared up at him before, hardly even looking at Lucy and Chloe, he muttered, "Sorry."

"It's alright," Lucy said right away, known for being quite forgiving.

Chloe, on the other hand, hesitated for a few awkward moments before she finally told Edmund, "I wish you actually meant it, but okay." She managed a wistful smile. "We'll probably all be laughing about this someday anyway." She then turned to Aidan. "That snow princess, was she the White Witch?"

Aidan's eyes widened at the thought of it and shook his head immediately. "No no, the White Witch would've been worse—lots worse—though she doesn't always look it. She's good at putting on a good face, sweet talk…" He added in a quick mutter and a glance towards Edmund, "_Emphasis on the sweet_…" Now, of course, he was feeling a twinge of guilt at leaving Icis behind in the World of Men and wondered if he should go back to talk to her and explain his actions. "You know. We shouldn't be talking about this—the trees _do_ listen. You all should find somewhere out of sight…"

Chloe and Lucy looked at each other before Lucy piped up. "We should go see Mr. Tumnus!"

Susan and Peter glanced at each other, then at Aidan, and looked to Lucy again. "Well, I figure we owe you, Lu," she said, smiling, "so lead the way."

Aidan nodded to Lucy and the others, and continued to follow them, though he wondered if Jadis had realized Tumnus was the Faun mentioned earlier. He hoped not, for Tumnus' sake and for the sake of these children and himself who were about to walk into a possible trap.

Tumnus had, in fact, been arrested as the Pevensies, Chloe, and Aidan discovered upon reaching his home. The children then met the Beavers, and Aidan, figuring they were in relatively safe hands now, left them to return to Icis and see if she still wanted to kill him, and, if so, perhaps remedy the situation.

* * *

Icis sneaked out of the house before anyone else would see her and looked around. Ahead of her was miles of forested mountains, and since she was desperately searching for a place to hide, she ran in that direction. She kept her wand out just in case she came across any other danger.

As she was nearing the edge of the trees, she thought she felt another presence somewhere, which was very familiar, even friendly. She entered the forest, walking in the direction in which the sense of the familiar presence was felt strongest. It then occurred to her again: when she escaped Narnia and she and Aidan found themselves in the World of Men, she lost Ellamae.

_I wonder if she's nearby then?_ she thought. _Because besides Aidan, I don't know anyone else in this world...so it HAS to be her!_ She then started bolting up the mountain, scanning the trees and bushes for any signs of her little Fairy friend. "Ellie! Ellamae! Where are you? It's me, Icis!" she called.

Suddenly she stopped when she spotted a tree stump. She stared at it for a few moments, sensing the presence very near now, and as she was about to touch it, the tree stump started to lift and tilt with somewhat of a creak, like a trapdoor. Icis sprang away from it and sprinted behind a clump of bushes to see what it was.

It lifted and then fell back, and poking out of the hole was the head of a dog whose face was mostly black but with a partially yellow throat, and resembled a Wolf. It was sniffing the air as it was climbing out of the hole, followed by a Son of Adam in mostly camouflage uniform and a matching hat, holding the dog on a leash.

Out of the hole following the boy and the dog was a man in mostly gray uniform with a matching gray cap, black gloves, and black combat boots. Unlike the soft blue eyes of the boy, the man had cold, black eyes and a hard frown as he observed their new surroundings.

_I couldn't have sensed their presences,_ thought Icis, _I sensed Ellamae's...unless one of them has her captive._

She then noticed a little sort of backpack on the boy's back and wondered. Still sensing her friend's presence around these men, Icis stepped out from behind the bushes and in front of them.

As the two men froze in their tracks and the dog growled—much to her bewilderment—she pointed her wand at the boy and snarled, "Stay where you are, Son of Adam, I have my wand pointed right between the eyes."

The man behind the boy came forward and took out what looked like his own weapon, a handheld object with one barrel pointed right at Icis' heart. "I doubt zat vill be necessary for us to stop," he said, glaring at her.

Icis stopped, stared at the man strangely, and glanced at his weapon. She then laughed. "That doesn't look too threatening, really," she replied. "I know, from first glance at you, you are not a sorcerer, so I believe I have the upper hand. Drop your silly little weapon now, I'm not afraid of you."

The man froze again and now stared at her, as if she were insane. "Do you have any idea vhat I can do to you, Frauline?"

Icis' brows raised. _Who does this fool think he is?_ she thought. _The king of Charn?_ She finally shook her head. "Nothing," she answered confidently. "Except return to me my friend, Ellamae Kyandi the Fairy, whom you have kidnapped, and then you may cooperate with me so you can tell me the ways of this World of Men, so I may be able to start a new life here. By the way, my name isn't 'Frauline' or whatever you called me, my name is Icis, Princess of Charn and I have recently escaped from the world of Narnia ruled by my hated aunt, whom I want nothing more to do with. But I'll provide more details about that later. Right now, sir, as Princess of Charn, I command you to release my Fairy friend, or you will pay."

The boy was looking nervous as he kept glancing over his shoulder and reaching back for his backpack, and the man's frown was turning into a smirk as he chuckled a little. "I see," he said. "Vell, perhaps you can provide more details about yourself back at my headquarters—ahem—Your Highness."

Icis glared at the man, realizing he was mocking her, and now pointed her wand at him. "I'm not ready to go with you anywhere, you two-faced dog!" she snapped. "Now are you going to release my friend or not?"

"Vait!" said the boy at last. "I have her right here."

Icis and the man looked at the boy as he was taking off his backpack and opened it. Out came a small explosion of sparkling pink dust, as Ellamae burst out of the bag, frantically flapping her wings and noticing the man's weapon. Apparently she sensed Icis, too, and the danger she was in.

"Icis, look out!" she cried. With that, she lifted her hand and zapped the colonel's gun into a million colorful pieces like a shower of fireworks. She then flitted over onto Icis' shoulder and buried her face in her friend's hair, shaking.

The man jumped back a few feet and shook off all the sparks from his leather glove and cursed under his breath in a foreign tongue that Icis had never heard before as the boy's speechless dog barked.

"I thought I'd never see you again," whimpered Ellamae from under Icis' hair.

Icis then looked to the boy. "Did he hurt you?"

"No," she said, "he saved my life."

"I can explain--" started the boy but he was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a Wolf.

Aidan growled, both at the man and at the dog. "Why don't you take a hike and leave these ladies alone, eh?" he said aloud, figuring this move was reckless but he was dying to see the colonel's reaction to a talking Wolf, so he didn't care. One thing was for sure: he was glad Ellamae had already taken care of the gun.

Both of the men looked puzzled, especially the man, who even looked a little alarmed. The boy seemed a little calmer, since he had already apparently met Ellamae, a Fairy.

The boy's dog then growled and barked at Aidan as Icis' eyes widened.

"You!" she cried. "You came back to--"

Unlike Icis' dismay of seeing Aidan again, Ellamae seemed a little happier to see someone else familiar come to their rescue.

"Aidan!" cried Ellamae. "How did you find us?"

"Now vait a minute," said the boy, holding the dog back, "I can explain, I helped Ellamae--"

"Vhat do you zink you are meddling viz, Fritz?" snapped the colonel.

"I found her, sir," said the boy named Fritz, "and she vas lost--"

"Ve don't know vhat zey can do to us!" snapped the colonel. "Pull out your gun and kill zem all, vhile ve have ze chance and no English citizens can spot us!"

Fritz backed away a few steps. "I vas not trained to murder--"

"Good boy," Aidan nodded approvingly to Fritz and glared at the colonel. "Hey, you. Shut up before I bite your face off—you have no idea how tempting that prospect is." He then grinned to Icis and Ellamae. "Easy enough to find you, just follow the chaos, you know how it goes…"

"Well, I'm not getting any further into this chaos here," snarled Icis, "with you, Aidan, or you"--she frowned at the colonel--"or anyone else here, besides Ellamae!" With that, she turned to leave, saying, "Come on, Ellie, we're better off alone."

Ellamae glanced back at Aidan. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I am! Now let's go!" snapped Icis.

Aidan nodded to Fritz with a "Thanks," and stuck his tongue out at the dog before hurrying after Icis and Ellamae. "Icis, listen, I'm sorry for knocking you down earlier, but I had to, let me explain—" His next word was a simple bark and he cut himself off, his eyes widening. Trying to speak again only resulted in another bark.

Icis, at first, didn't want to listen to Aidan and barked, "Shut up!"

Ellamae looked down at Aidan from Icis' shoulder and asked, "Icis, what is he talking about?"

"Nothing important," answered Icis. She then froze in her tracks when Aidan responded with a bark instead of intelligible speech and looked down at him with wide eyes.

"He's losing his speech in this world!" cried Ellamae, her wings fluttering as she became more afraid.

Icis was a little afraid, too, not for Aidan's well being, but simply because it usually disturbed her when she saw these kinds of things happen to talking creatures back in Narnia. "That's it, Ellamae, we're getting out of here," said Icis, her voice starting to quiver with fear and she turned away from Aidan.

"No!" cried Ellamae, flying off of Icis' shoulder and flitting towards Aidan. "We've got to help him!"

Fritz was looking a little disturbed in noticing Aidan's problem and so was the colonel. The colonel then pulled out a pocket knife and started storming up to Aidan. "Now zis vill give me a reason to put zis smart-talking mongrel out of his misery."

Aidan growled at the colonel and snapped his jaws at him, though he was not foolish enough to try and charge him, seeing as that would guarantee a quick death for himself, but he wasn't going to run like a coward either. He glanced at Ellamae as if to say, _"Could you zap that knife like before?"_ but, of course, he couldn't actually say it.

As Ellamae was about to land on Aidan's snout to get his attention, she was knocked off as Aidan snapped his jaws at the colonel. She then shook her head as she sat up and saw that she was between Aidan and the colonel, backing away from the Wolf but still brandishing his knife.

Icis sighed, frustrated, and ran back to get Ellamae. "Ellamae! Get out of there at once!" Finally she rolled her eyes. _Oh, fine, just to keep her quiet,_ she thought. She then whipped her wand out and was about to zap the colonel's knife, but Fritz and his dog tackled him.

Aidan howled with delight and pounced on the colonel, ripping the knife out of his grasp. He then backed off, smirking at the colonel's new plight.

Fritz got off of the colonel but his dog, Einar, was still wrestling the colonel at his master's command. He then ran between the struggling colonel and Aidan and scooped up Ellamae out of harm's way. As Fritz did this, Icis grabbed Fritz's shoulder and punched him in the jaw. Before Fritz fell back, Icis snatched Ellamae out of his hands.

As the colonel was still fighting off Einar, Fritz fell back, accidentally knocking the colonel and the dog into the open secret tunnel. Just then, Aidan noticed something sparkle in the tunnel…like a flash of something gold. In almost an instant, the colonel and the dog were engulfed in golden light.

Ellamae looked at the light. "I can feel home again!" she cried, smiling.

Fritz sat up, holding his jaw, and saw his dog in the light and went to pull it out, but he fell in, too.

Aidan, seeing the light, barked gleefully and dove into it.

"Wait!" cried Ellamae, escaping Icis' hold. "Wait, Aidan, let me help you!" With that, she flew after Aidan into the light.

"Ellamae!" shouted Icis as she frantically grasped at the air, trying to pull the Fairy back, but to no avail. As she was chasing after Ellamae, she tripped and was the last to fall into the tunnel.

Squirming and fighting in the tangle of bodies stuck in the now magically lit tunnel, Icis was desperately trying to claw her way out as the light was spreading and engulfing everyone, her included. Suddenly they could see nothing but light and they were all floating.

The light then vanished, and they found themselves tumbling down a snowy hill covered in evergreen trees, and they landed in a small clearing.

Ellamae was tending to Aidan once they came to a stop, Fritz was trying to figure out where they were while tending to his dog, and the colonel had hit his head against one of the trees' hard, thick trunks and was unconscious. Icis sat up with a mouthful of snow, spat it out and coughed, and looked around.

"Ellamae!" called Fritz. "Vhere are ve?"

The Fairy glanced at Fritz and looked around, amazed. "Maybe he's called us back for a reason…"

Fritz took off his hat and shook his head to cool off his head and short, blonde hair. "Who has called us back to vhere?"

"Aslan, I think," answered Ellamae, smiling at Fritz. "He has called us back to Narnia."

Icis whirled on Ellamae. "What?!" she spat, her eyes burning.

Ellamae flinched, her antennae twitching and her wings fluttering nervously as she found herself clinging to Aidan's paw. Fritz kept glancing between Ellamae and Icis, just as the colonel was coming to.

Aidan sat up, shaking the snow out of his fur and snickering to himself, as if debating whether he should say a certain thing. "You heard it right—Aslan. Called us back to Narnia, where, of course, you don't want to be, but now you're gonna have to just deal with it like you're gonna have to deal with me speaking again. Speaking of speech, or lack thereof, I am _never_ leaving this place again!! The World of Men is a horrible place, I have to say—and I can, so I just did."

Icis' eyes widened and her jaw dropped, but was silent and dumbfounded. Several thoughts were running through her mind—Aidan following her through the wardrobe and stopping her from following the Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve; Fritz, the colonel and their dog, Einar, grappling with her over Ellamae, and now Ellamae—one of her best friends—had taken Aidan's side, by taking him back to Narnia in order for him to get his speech back. She scanned her eyes over all of them, disgusted and frustrated, and her face was getting hot.

"So," she growled, locking her eyes on Aidan and Ellamae, "you two"—she pointed at them with her wand—"wanted to come 'home,' and _you_, Ellamae Kyandi, convinced that boy"—she glared at Fritz and Einar—"to foolishly leave his world to come with you. And Aidan, _you_ follow me, completely uninvited, into the World of Men _solely_ to ruin my chance of a new life there by letting _all five_ of those humans get away—when all I wanted was information from them, and the oldest boy was just not cooperating because he was simply a fool—and, what was a really stupid way to handle your own safety, you come after me and almost lose your ability to speak to make sure I'm back in this frozen wasteland! And as for you"—she turned to the colonel—"you are like a humanized, male version of my hated, cursed, wretched Aunt Jadis!" When she finished, she was out of breath and panting, until at last she resheathed her wand and threw up her hands. "So you know what? I'm going _my own _way! I don't need a single one of you idiots! I'm out of here!"

Aidan growled. "That's it! Now you listen, you bitch, you deserved every word that boy said, and what's more, you'll thank me for intervening since their deaths are _exactly_ what your hated aunt wants! Maybe you should try looking in the mirror if you want someone to blame for your own miserable life, and I'm sorry I _ever_ came back to make sure you were alright—I'm surprised you even have Ellamae for a friend, because she is the kindest soul I have ever known and—look at you, for crying out loud! Well, fine, you want to be on your own, so be it. I'm not ever coming after you ever again, and I hope your aunt catches you and turns you into a Wolf—it's about time there was some poetic justice around here. Have a fun life without any friends—I'm going to find those Pevensies who at least showed some amount of decency!" And with that, he turned and left in a huff.

Ellamae glanced from Icis to Aidan, watching them go their separate ways, and blinked a few times in hopes of drying her eyes.

"Icis, stop, please!" she called, her voice quivering slightly. "Please don't go away! Just listen to Aidan! And you were wrong, I wasn't plotting anything! None of us have to fight or say any of these hurtful things to each other!"

Icis turned to Ellamae again. "No, save it!" she snapped. "I've already heard enough from that mutt"—she shot a look at Aidan—"and I'm NOT gonna listen to you, after you've betrayed me and made all the foolish mistakes you've made already! And if you try to follow me with your excuse, I'll whip out my wand and turn you into stone!" With an angry toss of her hair, she turned and stormed away.

Fritz watched her leave and Einar whined a little as he watched Ellamae with pity.

"Let her go," growled the colonel. "Vith an attitude like zat, ve do not need her around. I blame her for zis. And ze Fairy!"

Ellamae glanced back at the colonel, but quickly looked away, his stinging last words making her face hot, tingling chills run down her spine and through her wings, and for her to finally release her tears. She hung her head and sobbed as Fritz was stroking her hair between her antennae and Einar whined a little more as he tried to nuzzle his nose into her tiny arm.

Aidan, at the sound of Ellamae's crying, stopped and came back. "Hey, I'm sorry, Elles, I forgot to say you could come with me if you want. You, as well," he added with a nod to Fritz, Einar, and even the colonel. "It's a bad idea for a human to be wandering alone in Narnia, you know."

Ellamae sniffed and looked up at Aidan. "Yeah," she said, glancing at Fritz and Einar, and beyond them she could still see Icis leaving down the other path. "I'm sorry, too."


	5. The Lion, the Witch, and

Author's Note: Neither of our names are C.S. Lewis. Our names do happen to be Sibella and Eileen, who do own Icis, Chloe, Aidan, Ellamae, Fritz, Einar and Colonel Wolfgang Dolchbrander (or, as we all know and love to hate him, the colonel--or Spike).

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Lion, the Witch, and the Secret Weapon**

Fritz glanced at Ellamae before looking to Aidan. "Sank you, volf," he said to Aidan. "But you are eventually goink to help us get out of here, right?"

Aidan paused. "Well, that's not really my call to make…Aslan brought us here, so he says when you can leave."

The colonel took notice at this, and he pushed past Fritz, staring at Aidan sternly, but very eager. "Who's zis…Aslan? I vould like to request to him zat he return my corporal and I back to our country immediately."

Ellamae wiped her eyes to stop crying and looked up at the colonel. "You can't order Aslan around," she said.

The colonel turned on Ellamae and glared at her. "I am not plannink to order anyone around," he answered. "Actually I had a little persvasion in mind, some negotiation. After all, ve are apparently not vanted here. Letting Corporal Von Brandenburg"—he gestured to Fritz—"and I return to our country should not be too much to ask of your Aslan. And viz some of his own citizens"—he glanced from Ellamae back to Aidan—"to represent us, zat makes it all ze better, because he may see zat ve humans are not so troublesome after all. I see no harm in it, so vhy not?"

Fritz's brow furrowed. "But didn't ze volf just say zat it is not for any of us to make ze decision vhere ve go here, since ve are in zeir realm?"

The colonel wheeled around on Fritz, his dark eyes flashing. "You plan on stayink here viz zese voodland creatures, do you? Instead of returnink to Germany and fightink for your country?"

Aidan watched the colonel with an annoyed expression. "Whatever, you can try negotiating with Aslan if you want and see where it gets you. Just follow me and keep in mind you're in _our_ territory now, with no knife or anything to defend yourself, so be very careful what you say—and if you raise one finger to harm the boy, or Ellamae, or even the non-talking dog, I'll remember my threat to bite your face off."

The colonel looked away from Fritz and glared at Aidan. He then took a breath and opened his mouth to respond, but after a few moments, he sighed and shook his head, turning away from Aidan.

After a moment's silence, Fritz stared at him strangely and looked to Aidan. "Uh…vell, sank you, Aidan, ve vill come viz you." With that, he took Einar's leash with one hand and helped Ellamae onto his shoulder with the other.

Aidan ignored the colonel and turned to start walking again. "This way—and we have to hurry and keep quiet or some of Her spies might see us—the White Witch, to you newcomers, I'll explain later." With that, he led them in the direction of the Beavers' home, where he hoped the children still were.

* * *

As they arrived, Mr. Beaver was coming out to them when he recognized Aidan and Ellamae. "Aidan!" he greeted. "Glad ya made it back! Oh, and Ellamae, welcome! Who are your new friends?"

At first as they were approaching, Fritz and especially the colonel were feeling slightly awkward being at a Beaver's dam. When they saw that Mr. Beaver could talk, Fritz was a little surprised, but not as much as the colonel obviously, since Fritz had already met Ellamae and Aidan.

"Hi, Mr. Beaver!" sported Ellamae. She then turned to Fritz. "These are Mr. and Mrs. Beaver that I told you about, Fritz. I'm sure they can tell you more about Aslan." She then flew from his shoulder as Mrs. Beaver came out and took Mrs. Beaver's paw and led her to Fritz, although she looked slightly intimidated by the colonel. "Mrs. Beaver, Mr. Beaver, this is Fritz Von Brandenburg from the shining city of Berlin, in the great land of—um—Germany. That's right. He's another Son of Adam. And this is his dog companion, Einar. He can't talk, but maybe he'll be cured if he stays here in Narnia long enough."

Fritz awkwardly smiled and nodded as he extended his hand to shake Mrs. Beaver's paw. At first, Mrs. Beaver looked at his hand strangely. "Um…how do you do, Mrs. Beaver?" he asked.

Mrs. Beaver glanced at Ellamae for a clue.

"Oh, you shake it, Mrs. Beaver," said Ellamae. "Humans do it when they meet each other. It's a sign of friendship."

After meeting both Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, Fritz and Einar were welcomed inside the Beavers' house, which was more like a little cottage than a dam. The colonel followed, in bitter silence and frustration. As he was, Mr. Beaver couldn't help but notice (since he was the last in the door after the colonel) that the colonel kept suspiciously eyeing Fritz's belt, which had an extra Luger handgun in a black leather holster.

Peter, overhearing "Berlin" and "Germany" from inside the house, stood to look at Fritz and the colonel as they came in. "Well, look what the cat dragged in," he said rather coldly. "Germans." At this word, all the children now watched the two and their dog either warily or hatefully, depending on the individual.

Aidan was unsure of what the issue with the Germans was, and with everything else that was going on, he decided not to touch it. "This is Ellamae, Fritz, Einar, and—I don't know this man's name. Just call him Spike for now. Newcomers, these wonderfully adorable children are Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy, and their friend Chloe." He grinned teasingly when he said the words "wonderfully adorable."

"And this rather cheeky fellow is Aidan, our personal tour guide in this winter wonderland also known as Narnia," Chloe said with a sweet smile and stuck out her tongue. "He just needs a little practice with his colorful commentary."

Aidan stuck out his tongue in return. "That's because there's no color around here to comment _on_, my good lady."

"True statement," Chloe smirked.

The colonel scowled at Aidan and the Pevensie children. "I am Colonel Volfgang Dolchbrander, in ze SS in ze service of ze Fürher, Adolf Hitler, of Germany. Fritz Von Brandenburg here is my corporal." He paused for a moment, glancing awkwardly at Aidan and the Beavers, and feeling as if he was insane for talking to animals, who should be dumb and witless, instead of talking and intelligent. He then looked to Mr. Beaver and cleared his throat. "Is zere any chance my corporal and I could meet and speak to your leader, Aslan, so ve may go back to our country in peace?"

Ellamae, Fritz and Aidan sighed and rolled their eyes at the colonel (we may know his name now, but we can still call him the colonel, since his name is too long), while Mr. and Mrs. Beaver glanced at each other and back at the colonel.

("Right. Spike," Aidan muttered under his breath.)

Mr. Beaver then looked to the Pevensie children and back at the colonel and Fritz. "Well, I don't know why Aslan called you two here," he said, "but whatever it is, I don't think you can leave now." As he turned away and he and Mrs. Beaver sat down at the table with the Pevensies, Fritz and Einar, he added happily, "However, Aslan is on the move."

At this moment, everyone was silent when Mr. Beaver mentioned Aslan. Warm, happy, almost dreamy feelings seemed to radiate from everyone—except Edmund and the colonel.

"Who's Aslan?" asked Edmund, confused.

"And vhere is he?" asked the colonel again, who was now growing very frustrated.

Mr. Beaver burst out laughing. "Who's Aslan?! You cheeky little blighter…who's Aslan, he says?!" He turned to Mrs. Beaver, pointing at Edmund as he continued to laugh. "Well he's only—"

"The head guy," Aidan interrupted. "The top dog, or cat, so to speak—kind of. He _is_ a Lion—"

"—the true King of Narnia!" Mr. Beaver finished.

The colonel finally rolled his eyes and sighed as he turned away. "_I give up_," he growled to himself.

Mr. Beaver stopped laughing after Mrs. Beaver nudged him. He looked at the rest of them who were just as confused as Edmund and the colonel, save for Aidan and Ellamae. "You really don't know, do you?" He then looked to Mrs. Beaver. "Do you even know the prophecy?" he asked, looking back at the Pevensies.

"What prophecy?" asked Susan.

"They don't even know the prophecy!" burst Mr. Beaver, looking to Mrs. Beaver.

Mrs. Beaver glanced between her husband and the children. "Well, then…"

Mr. Beaver sighed and looked to the children again. "There is a prophecy held in the Castle of Cair Paravel:

"When Adam's flesh and Adam's bone

Sits at Cair Paravel in throne

The evil time will be over and done."

Susan scowled. "That doesn't really rhyme."

Mr. Beaver sighed again. "Well, you're kind of missing the point here!"

Mrs. Beaver then chimed in. "It has long been foretold that two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve will destroy not only the White Witch's reign forever, but also her life, and will begin a new reign under Aslan, restoring peace to Narnia."

"And we're pretty sure that means you four," Aidan added. "See, until you, we haven't seen any humans here!"

Peter hesitated. "But…isn't the White Witch human?"

"No, no, Your Majesty, that's just what she wants you to think. She's no Daughter of Eve—Daughter of Lilith, Adam's first wife, rather, a Jinn—and a giant." Aidan smirked. "With you four here, it's no wonder she's on the edge of her seat lately—your arrival means her death, really."

"And vhat of zis uzzer girl ve met a vhile back?" asked Fritz. "She calls herself a princess of zis land called—Charn, I zink it vas. Vhat is she?"

"She's a Daughter of Lilith, too," piped up Ellamae. "Her mother, Ara, was the Queen of Charn. Queen Ara was the White Witch's older sister. See, the White Witch, Jadis, wanted the Charnese throne so she started this whole big war to get it. Then she and Ara had a crush on one of their nobles, but this noble was apparently greedier than both the sisters combined. First he flirted with Jadis to get information about Ara concerning the war. Then he soon got tired of Jadis after he got information about her sister, and he moved in on the Queen.

"It soon turned out that Queen Ara and the noble hit it off pretty well until Ara learned of his real intention of hopefully becoming king, especially if they were going to have a child—Icis—and despite this, the Queen killed him. Shortly after Icis was born, Jadis raised _more_ hell, and Ara basically raised Icis to be one of her ultimate weapons, since Icis was heir to the throne, too.

"Icis, at first, obeyed her mother through and through, but then found out what she was really being used for. She then secretly took her own side, against both her mother _and_ her aunt, and gathered some followers of her own. After awhile, through her spies and her mother's magicians, she learned the Deplorable Word—_Jadis'_ ultimate weapon.

"When the war for the throne of Charn was almost over, Icis, Jadis, and Ara met on one of the terraces of their towers, and Icis _just happened_ to speak the Deplorable Word the same time that _Jadis_ did. A few seconds later, Icis and Jadis were the only ones left alive in their world. Once they saw that they failed to kill _each other_, they tried to fight to the death, but somehow they both got knocked out by a spell that made them sleep agelessly for thousands of years till someone broke it by ringing an enchanted bell with a hammer."

Chloe, who had been more idly listening up to this point, heard the words "bell" and "hammer," and her eyes locked onto Ellamae, listening to the story more intently from then on, though she still made no comment.

"When they were somehow awakened later, they escaped Charn, came here, and shortly after Jadis became the White Witch and began her tyrannical reign here, she put Icis under the same ageless sleep spell for another hundred years or so, hence why she's still sixteen now.

"So, in conclusion, and as I said before, no, she is definitely _not_ a Daughter of Eve."

After a moment of silence, Peter spoke up. "How do _you_ know all this?"

"I'm the best friend she has," answered Ellamae. She then stopped herself and sighed sadly. "Or, at least, I _was_."

Mr. Beaver then cleared his throat. "Well, you know of her now, and the Witch, and how dangerous they are."

Susan was now really worried. "Well, if the White Witch is—_that_ sort of witch, then, thank you for the information"—she looked to Ellamae—"and your hospitality, Beavers…but we really have to go." She and Peter then stood up to leave, and looked to Lucy and Chloe to do the same, as Mr. Beaver's mouth dropped open.

"Well, you can't just leave!" he protested.

Lucy watched her siblings pleadingly. "He's right. We have to help Mr. Tumnus."

Peter sighed. "Lu, this isn't our war—"

"Funny, because if they're telling the truth, and I think they are, it _is_," Chloe interrupted, watching Peter and Susan with a stern look surprising to her relatively younger age.

Susan sighed and glared at Chloe. "Oh, you're _so helpful_! You just heard what the little Fairy just said, about the Witch and that girl you called that 'Snow Princess.' We are absolutely _no match_ for them! We _have_ to go back!"

"Vell, it looks like ve are stuck here until ve _do _do somesink about zese Vitches," said Fritz.

Peter turned away from Lucy to scowl at Fritz. "Don't you dare tell us what we should do! Our dad's already in a war because of you, isn't that enough?!"

Lucy bit her lip and looked around. "Peter?"

"Not now, Lucy"—and then, returning to Fritz—"No, it isn't enough, is it?! Nothing's ever enough for the Nazis!"

Fritz frowned slightly as his brows raised and his jaw. "Now you vait just a minute," he growled. "Zis var vas not my decision to make. I vasn't ze one who called your fozzer avay. I had no choice in ze matter vhen I vent to var myself. It vas eizer go to var, or my fozzer and I vould be taken to ze Russian Front to be shot, and God knows vhat vould have happened to ze rest of my family. And zere are sinks I suspect zat Hitler is not tellink us, zey just tell us to take orders vizzout kvestion. I am tryink to find out vhy, all ze time, vhich is vhy I'm not too vell liked by most of my platoon. Speakink of vhich, Colonel—" Fritz finally turned to face the colonel, but the colonel was gone…and so was Edmund.

Peter stared at Fritz speechlessly and followed his eyes to where the colonel and Edmund were a moment ago. "Where's Edmund?" he demanded, causing Lucy to sigh with very little relief that he finally noticed.

"I don't know," answered Fritz, shrugging and throwing his hands up. "Vhere is ze colonel?"

Peter glanced at Lucy, to the Beavers' open door, and then at Susan. "I'm gonna kill him," he said, and glancing at Fritz, referring to the colonel, he added, "Both of them."

"You may not have to," said Mr. Beaver. "Have Edmund or the colonel ever been to Narnia before?"

"Well, Edmund, yeah, but…what does that have to do with anything?" Peter said.

Aidan tilted his head curiously. "You don't know?"


	6. Talkative Traitors

Author's Note: This is one of our favorite chapters...Edmund & the colonel...and Aidan...just LOL.

Once again, not our property. Except for our characters. Plus Fenris and Morwyn. (Fenris is actually a reference to an alternate name of Maugrim's...but the character is mine.)

* * *

**Chapter 6: Talkative Traitors**

Edmund was walking in the snow, towards the White Witch's castle, shivering from the cold, since he had forgotten his coat. Despite the bad vibes he was now getting about the whole thing, he was moving as fast as he could without falling.

_ Once I'm King of Narnia,_ he thought, _I'm going to build roads so it's not so cold—and so slippery._ He looked ahead to see the two mountains the White Witch had referred him to so he could find her palace…and he did. In the valley between the mountains, he saw a glistening palace in the moonlight, all made out of ice.

Just as he was going towards it, he stopped when he heard something like footsteps behind him in the snow. Whirling around to see what it was, he couldn't see very well, since it was at night and the forest was a lot darker. Suddenly, he saw a tall, dark, masculine figure coming towards him, and when the figure emerged into the moonlight, Edmund recognized him to be the German colonel who demanded to see Aslan earlier.

Startled, Edmund turned and ran, but it was at too fast a pace, and before he knew it, he had tripped and fallen face-first into the snow. He pulled himself into a sit and wiped the snow out of his eyes the best he could before he tried to stand up again so he could run—but, as he told himself sternly, not as quickly.

The colonel started trotting after Edmund. "Vait!" he called. "Stop! I am not goink to hurt you! I'm just as lost as you are!" Once Edmund had fallen down in the snow, the colonel ran up to him as the boy was brushing himself off.

As he looked up at the colonel, Edmund was terrified; the colonel was a tall man and strongly built, and his dark eyes were cold and cruel.

For a few moments in awkward, chilling silence, Edmund sat shivering and staring at the colonel in fear, as he stood towering over him and his panting breath was seen in the wind in puffs of white clouds from the cold.

"Relax," the colonel said finally, "I am just as lost as you are. Maybe togezzer ve can find someone who can really help us." With that, he extended a hand to Edmund to help him out of the snow.

Edmund recoiled from the colonel's hand at first. _What would Dad say if I touched that?! What would Peter say?!_ he thought and was immediately disgusted with himself for even caring about what Peter would say. Besides, it was probably best to help his enemy out of Narnia one way or another. He looked straight into the colonel's cold eyes and grabbed his hand, allowing this man to pull him to his feet.

"Alright. I think I know where we can find someone," he said simply, though this was only a half-truth—he knew _exactly_ where to find this someone. _I'm not as lost as you think,_ he thought hatefully, making sure not to actually roll his eyes in front of the colonel since, if his plan was to succeed at all, he needed his trust.

As the colonel helped Edmund to his feet, he helped brush the boy off. "Good," he said. "Who is zhis person? Since zhere is no chance of us finding zhis imaginary Aslan."

"That's for sure. True King of Narnia? They've got to be joking. If he's the King, how come he's never around?" Edmund scoffed at the mention of Aslan, forgetting who he was with at the moment. "Not a very good King, if he's even real. I've met the Queen of Narnia and I think she's very nice, actually, not at all like that White Witch they were all talking about. (I wonder if she knows about all these rumors.) That's who we're going to, by the way." He finished awkwardly, remembering all of a sudden that this was a German to whom he was speaking so freely. Without another word, he turned and continued to walk towards the palace, knowing full well the colonel would follow and probably try to keep the conversation alive.

As Edmund walked past him, the colonel looked after him awkwardly for a moment and then caught up to him in long strides. "Ze little Fairy back at ze Beavers made zis Kveen of Narnia sound like some sort of monster," he said, "zat she vas a Kveen from some previous vorld. If she vas able to rule a whole uzzer previous vorld before comink here, she must be very powerful, and seems to be ze only one who can keep things in order here. And if zat niece of hers, zat Princess Icis, knows how to get from zis vorld into our own, zen ze Kveen must know, too. From vhat I've heard, she has achieved a lot, unlike zis Aslan whom ve have never even seen...only heard of him, as if he vere some sort of myth."

"Well, you'd be surprised what people believe," Edmund said simply and kept walking, the palace becoming clearer with every step he took towards it.

The two soon reached an open gate leading into a courtyard filled with eerie-looking statues, and kept going, unaware that, within seeing distance, the others had followed them and could now watch them enter the dark, foreboding palace.

* * *

Lucy, horrified at this sight, screamed out, "Edmund!!!"

Peter started to run after them, but Mr. Beaver caught hold of his sleeve, forcing him not to. He tried to pull away from Mr. Beaver and shouted angrily, "Get off!"

Aidan bit his tongue, willing himself not to say "I told you so," or anything related to it, and chose instead to watch Chloe, who was strangely silent as well, her face hardening into a frown.

* * *

As they were passing through the gate, the colonel thought he heard a voice calling Edmund's name, which Edmund seemed to neglect to hear as he happily entered the palace. He looked out towards the forest to see if he could locate where the voice was coming from, but saw no one, and he shook his head as he turned away and followed Edmund. Looking around, they were in silence for a few moments as they noticed all sorts of figures on either side of a path leading to a flight of stairs and then another door. They were very still, wary of what lay ahead, and saw that they were only statues—large, silent, stone statues—of all sorts of animals such as Lions, Dogs, Rabbits, Bears, Horses, even Squirrels, and many mythical creatures, such as Giants, Unicorns, Fauns, and Centaurs. Not a sound was heard besides the soft wind and the snow and ice crunching under the colonel's and Edmund's feet, and they noticed that snow was building up on the statues' heads and backs. They must have been here for quite a long time.

Realizing that there was nothing to be afraid of, the colonel shrugged and kept walking to go to the stone steps. Edmund was nervous as he slowly walked past several of the statues, especially a Giant who looked ready to strike him with his spiked club in his raised hand but was only still and silent. Noticing how Edmund was still a little afraid of the figures, the colonel smirked as he found a Lion and strode over to it.

"Look at zis," he said to Edmund as he knocked on the Lion's stone, snow-covered mane. Edmund looked to see snow falling from the Lion's head, and the colonel glanced at the Lion and Edmund, giving a toothy grin and a pretend growl, obviously mocking the boy. After the colonel laughed, he looked at the statue again and said to Edmund, "You see vhat you are so afraid of? Zis is nussink, boy. A lump of stone." He then came away from the Lion, patting Edmund on the shoulder as he passed him to go on towards the steps. "Besides," he called back to Edmund, reaching for his belt, "I'm armed enough to defend us both!" He then lifted Fritz's hand Luger above his head for Edmund to see.

Edmund glared after the colonel and at the Lion, and was about to move on when he felt something crunch under his feet that wasn't just snow. Looking down, he noticed bits of a dark, soft rock—probably coal—and picked one up and turned to the Lion again. With a smirk, he sketched a pair of goofy glasses and a mustache on the Lion's face before he dropped the rock back where he found it.

"Not so powerful now, are you, Aslan?" he sneered under his breath, and then followed after the colonel.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mr. Beaver was quickly trying to convince Peter why he should not run after Edmund and the colonel. "Don't you get it? He's the bait! If you go barging in there, you're all dead!"

Peter opened his mouth as if to say something on the lines of, "I don't care," but Chloe noticed the look on his face and snapped, close to shouting:

"Hey! He deserves this mess, and you want to risk all our lives on the _slight_ chance we get him out of it? That's not fair, Peter!"

Peter took one look at Chloe, and then at his two sisters, and shut his mouth.

Aidan sighed in relief, glad to see this boy finally see reason. "I could go keep an eye on him if you want…I have an easy in. Unfortunately, there's not much I can do besides that. Only Aslan can help your brother now."

Peter, staring at the ground, took a deep breath before looking to Mr. Beaver. "Alright. Take us to him."

Ellamae looked after the rest of the group in silence, and suddenly she perked up as her wings fluttered. _I wonder where Icis is,_ she thought. _If she's still out in the forest somewhere, and Edmund and the colonel go to the White Witch, the Witch'll probably send the Wolves after her! Oh, Aslan, please help Icis, too...

* * *

_

As Edmund started to catch up to him, the colonel was already starting up the staircase leading to the gate. As the colonel was close to the gate, he stopped, allowing Edmund to catch up to him. The colonel was looking down at the statue of what appeared to be a sleeping Wolf, but from the look on his face, Edmund could not tell that he wasn't completely sure it was stone. After about a minute of silence, the colonel looked at the gate, back down at the Wolf, and then at Edmund; he noticed that they could possibly step around the Wolf, and the colonel cocked his head for going around to Edmund. Edmund only looked down at the Wolf, nervously but strangely. The colonel then rolled his eyes at him and started to carefully try and walk around the Wolf.

As Edmund watched the colonel for a moment, he started to try and do the same thing, but the Wolf suddenly came alive with a deep, fierce growl, all the fur raising on his back, and his jaws bare and snapping. Edmund started and tripped, and the Wolf jumped on him, pinning him to the ground with a massive, heavy paw once he was flat on his back.

"Be still, stranger," growled the Wolf in a deep, threatening voice, "or you'll never move again! Who are you?"

Barely able to breathe under the crushing weight of the Wolf, Edmund answered, "I—I'm Edmund! The Queen of Narnia wanted me to come and see her!"

Not seeming thoroughly convinced by Edmund's claim, the Wolf started to growl at him again, until he heard a clicking noise, and a masculine voice bark, "Halt, Volf!" The Wolf and Edmund then looked up to see the colonel, who had cocked Fritz's hand Luger and was pointing it at the Wolf.

After a moment of awkward silence staring at the gun, the Wolf demanded, "And who are you?"

"Colonel Volfgang Dolchbrander of Germany," answered the colonel sternly. "I have also come to see your Kveen. I am viz Edmund."

The Wolf glared at the colonel for a moment and then at Edmund.

"It's—it's true! He _is_ with me!" stammered Edmund. "I'm the Son of Adam!"

"Ve need Her Majesty's assistance," said the colonel, "and kvick." He pointed the gun right between the Wolf's eyes. "Now release Edmund."

After a moment, the Wolf finally got off of Edmund and said to him and the colonel, "My apologies, fortunate favorites of the Queen." As he walked past the humans, he growled, "Or else, _not_ so fortunate."

Edmund sat up and looked strangely after the Wolf, while the colonel smirked as he put the gun back in his holster and helped Edmund to his feet again. The gates then opened and the Wolf entered, with Edmund and colonel following. They found themselves at the doorway of a long hallway leading to the empty throne room, and Edmund and the colonel looked around, once again finding both sides of the hall filled with stone statues, while the Wolf only walked on.

As they approached the throne's threshold, the Wolf stopped, looked to them and said, "Wait here." He then turned away, walked up the threshold, and bounded off down a back hallway.

When the Wolf was gone, Edmund and the colonel started shivering and realizing just how cold they really were; as Edmund tried to rub his arms, the colonel breathed on his cupped hands, trying to warm them, still glancing around the gloomy hall. As the colonel seemed to be studying all the stone statues, Edmund looked up to the White Witch's empty throne. Smiling, he walked up the threshold's few steps to get a better look at it. As his fascination with it seemed to make him forget the cold air, he finally came closer and sat down in the throne, making himself very comfortable by placing his arms on the armrests and leaning his head on the back of it, smiling even more as he surveyed the whole hallway and everything in it.

The colonel looked away from the statues for a moment and spotted Edmund sitting in the throne.

"Vhat are you doink, sittink up zere?" he asked, with a wary frown. "Von't ze Kveen get angry viz you sittink in her srone?"

Edmund then looked down at the colonel, smirked, and shook his head. "No, I don't think so. She likes me," he said proudly. Letting his eyes wander around the room again, still smiling, he added, "I'm only getting comfortable."

The colonel glared at Edmund, and then he turned to look at the stone statues and muttered, "Such confidence."

At the colonel's last remark, Edmund frowned at him again. "What do you keep looking at those statues for?"

After a moment of cold silence, the colonel answered, still slowly scanning his eyes over the statues, "Tryink to spot any resemblink humans."

Edmund's frown then got a twinge of curious alarm as he stared at the colonel for a moment, and then glanced out at some of the statues himself.

Finally, from the back hallway where the Wolf was last seen, the White Witch appeared, followed by her Dwarf, Ginarrbrik, and the Wolf. Upon seeing them first, the colonel cleared his throat to get Edmund's attention of their presences. Edmund noticed, and saw the White Witch to his left, glaring down at him with her tall, ice crown, and she was brandishing her wand.

"Like it?" she asked the boy in her throne.

Edmund quickly stood up out of the throne with a nervous smile, stammering, "Uh—y-yes…Your Majesty."

Still glaring at him as she sat down in her throne, the Witch said, "I thought you might."

After another moment of chilling silence as the Witch Jadis, Ginarrbrik, and the Wolf stood glaring at Edmund and the colonel, Jadis asked, "Tell me, Edmund…are your sisters deaf?"

Edmund looked at her strangely before he awkwardly answered, "No."

"And your brother," continued Jadis, "is he…unintelligent?"

Edmund and the colonel glanced at each other in further bewilderment, before Edmund looked to Jadis with a smart little smile, saying, "Well, _I_ think he is. But Mum says—"

The Witch then shot to her feet with rage burning in her cold eyes. "THEN HOW DARE YOU COME ALONE?!" she shrieked.

Edmund and the colonel then started backing away in alarm, while the especially terrified Edmund tried to speak. "B-but Your Majesty, I—well, we—"

"Edmund, I asked so little of you," said Jadis, coming towards him.

"Your Majesty," began the colonel, "if I may—"

"I—I've done the best I could! I tried to bring them here but they wouldn't listen!" stammered Edmund.

"You couldn't even do _that_," said Jadis, ignoring the colonel.

"Well, I—I _did_ bring them halfway!" Edmund said finally. Everyone paused, as he continued, "They're in the little house on top of the dam just up the river, with the Beavers!"

The Witch's anger seemed to subside considerably, and glancing at Ginarrbrik and the Wolf and back at Edmund, she said, "Well, I suppose you're not a _total_ loss, then, are you?"

Edmund still continued to gaze up at her in fear, as the colonel looked at her with a skeptical glare, wondering what she was trying to pull. Finally, Jadis glared at the colonel. "Who are you?" she asked.

The colonel then awkwardly took off his cap, being caught rather off guard and not really expecting her to acknowledge him since she ignored him the first time he tried to speak to her. He then cleared his throat, and answered, "Colonel Volfgang Dolchbrander of Germany, Your Majesty. I have come viz Edmund in hopes that Your Majesty vould help me return to my own vorld as soon as possible."

Though Jadis, for the most part, still appeared angry and intimidating to Edmund and the colonel, she seemed a bit puzzled at the colonel's statement. This hesitation gave Aidan, who had been listening from out of sight, the opening he was hoping for. He rushed in, speaking as loudly as possible so as to add to any confusion already stirring in the Witch's mind.

"Your Majesty! I am so sorry, so very sorry—I can explain _everything_!" he began, allowing for a pause in which he hoped she would take the bait and allow him to continue. Once he was allowed to speak again, he knew it was absolutely necessary to keep talking. If the colonel managed to say anything in the meantime, Aidan's cover would be blown. This outcome had to be delayed as long as possible, as well as any pursuit of the other children. Aidan had to think fast, beginning with the one thing he was happiest to hear Jadis say:

"And what, exactly, will you be explaining to me?" she said crossly, looking very much like she wanted to kill something, but all the same, Aidan was relieved. He gave a quick bow, realizing he had forgotten to when he had first entered her presence.

"It's Icis, my Queen. She—oh, how do I put this?—gave me the slip. I gotta say, she's a lot more clever than she seems, escaping _me_…I've been searching for her, I figured that'd be a lot more useful than telling you of her disappearance. But, there's no trace. So I figure…now's the time to report it." He grinned sheepishly. "For what it's worth, Fenris was assigned to this originally and he ditched, leaving me to pick up the slack—so this is only _partly_ my fault, and I offer my deepest apologies for the part where I _am_ at fault." His grin faded as he prepared himself for the worst—at least a furious outburst—and was actually quite horrified at his failure to ramble further. He hoped the Witch's next response would open another door for him or focus on a search for Icis—anything but allowing the colonel to speak.

Edmund watched Aidan, surprised to see him there at all, much less to hear what the Wolf was saying. He didn't really know what Aidan was playing at, but he didn't really care, either. As long as it kept Jadis' fury focused on someone else, he was going to keep his mouth shut.

Jadis, angry and annoyed enough, listened to Aidan in cold silence, and after a minute of drumming her fingers on her armrest, she said, "Apologies accepted, Aidan. I order a search for the Princess immediately...after I deal with these two." She then turned on Edmund and the colonel, glared at them, and turned away.

Edmund then piped up. "Uh...Your Majesty?" he asked sheepishly. "I was wondering...could I have some more...Turkish Delight now?"

The colonel then glanced from Jadis to Edmund, looking at Edmund as if he were an idiot and expecting the Witch to slap Edmund for it, but instead Jadis looked at him and then to her Dwarf. "Our guest is hungry," she said raising her eyebrows. The Dwarf, Ginarrbrik, then took out his whip, and with the point of it began prodding Edmund towards one of the back halls.

"This way," he sneered, "for your num-nums."

The colonel, left standing and staring strangely after Edmund and Ginarrbrik, then turned to the Witch. "But—Your Majesty," he said, "vhat about—"

"Maugrim!" called Jadis, cutting the colonel off and ignoring him.

As Maugrim the Wolf came bounding back and up to the Witch's throne, she looked to him as she leaned comfortably back in her chair. "You know what to do." Maugrim then bowed his head, and then lifted it again, howling. At this, Edmund, Ginarrbrik, and the colonel all paused as they saw other Wolves answering Maugrim's call from the other corridors. As the Wolves all gathered in front of her throne, Jadis smiled slyly as she arose and looked to Maugrim and Aidan.

"Vait a moment, Your Majesty!" the colonel chimed in before he pointed amongst the approaching Wolves. "He—"

"Yes! He—Fenris—he's the one who was totally slacking off!" Aidan hastily interrupted, pointing his nose toward the corresponding Wolf.

Fenris started. "What?"

"Don't try to deny it! You just couldn't wait for your meal break, could you, you lazy—"

"No!" the colonel cut back in, pointing more vigorously in Aidan's direction. "He—"

Aidan interjected once more, even more hastily. "That's _SHE_—Morwyn—_she_ should _definitely_ be assigned to track down the Princess. She's one of the best, and she's _definitely_ not lazy like _Fenris_ here!"

Now he was indicating the she-Wolf, of brown coloring, standing right next to him. Surprised at the attention, she muttered, "Well, I'm flattered, Aidan…"

"Maugrim, Aidan," Jadis finally cut in sharply, "divide my Police into two searching parties. Maugrim and Aidan's group will go to the Beavers', Fenris and Morwyn's group will go after Icis. Spare no one but the Humans and the Princess. I want them alive. Go!" As the Wolves bounded away, the two search parties going into their different directions, Jadis looked to Ginarrbrik and Edmund. "Ginarrbrik," she said, "take him"—she pointed at the colonel with her wand—"with the other Son of Adam to the dungeons."

Both Edmund and the colonel were stunned—on top of Edmund's horror at these Wolves going after his family—and they were helplessly ushered off to the dungeons.

As Jadis looked away from him and the other Wolves started to leave, Aidan watched Edmund and, before he could avoid it, they made eye contact. He recognized the look of confusion and despair in the boy's eyes and wanted to say words of reassurance, even if he simply mouthed them, but he dared not in Jadis' presence. Biting his lip, he glanced around him to see that most of the other Wolves were gone, so he looked to Edmund again with a quick, sympathetic nod and then took off.

Edmund, as he was shoved along by Ginarrbrik once more, caught Aidan's look before the Wolf joined the others. He shot a skeptical look after him but thought perhaps this Wolf really did mean well: after all, it was possible there were others the White Witch had tricked. Perhaps Aidan was one of them. _He could've told her about Aslan, and seeing my family…but he didn't. Maybe that's his idea of payback,_ he thought hopefully.


	7. The Great Chase, DoubleAgents, and

Disclaimer: I own Chloe, Aidan, Lark, Fenris, and Morwyn. Sibella owns Icis, Ellamae, Fritz, Einar, and the colonel. Everything else is owned by C.S. Lewis and the wonderful people at Walden Media.

* * *

**Chapter 7: The Great Chase, Double-Agents, and Another Cluster**

The Beavers and the children, by this point, were hurriedly packing for an escape. Mr. Beaver was certain, with Edmund's betrayal, it wouldn't be long before the Witch's police would be at their door.

Mrs. Beaver was packing all of their bags, and Mr. Beaver was getting extremely irritable at how long she seemed to be taking. Meanwhile, Peter, Susan, and Fritz were grabbing random pieces of furniture and shoving them up against the windows and door in case the Wolves were too quick for them, Einar was sniffing around for any dogs (a.k.a. other Wolves besides Aidan), and Ellamae, Chloe, and Lucy were scrambling around trying to speed up Mrs. Beaver's packing process, since, as Mr. Beaver so accurately put it, "There's no time to lose!"

"Now, Mr. Beaver," said Mrs. Beaver coolly, "just pass me that ham, and here's a packet of tea, and there's sugar, and some matches, and if someone will get two or three loaves out of that crock over there in the corner…"

"Mrs. Beaver, what are you doing?" asked Susan.

"Packing a load for each of us, dearie," answered Mrs. Beaver. "You don't think we'd set out on a journey with nothing to eat, did you?"

"But ve don't have time for zis," said Fritz, setting three loaves of bread on the table. "Zey vill be here any minute!"

"Oh, don't start getting cranky, dearie," said Mrs. Beaver to Fritz. "Mr. Beaver gets cranky without food."

Mr. Beaver then burst, "I'm cranky _now_!"

Ellamae's wings fluttered and her antennae perked up, startled by Mr. Beaver's anxiety, and she gathered half a dozen clean handkerchiefs from one of the drawers by the table. As she flitted to Mrs. Beaver's side, handed her the handkerchiefs and went looking for another loaf of bread, she thought about the approaching Wolves.

_Oh, Aslan, please keep us safe…and Icis, too, wherever she is…there is still hope for Narnia, we must survive!

* * *

_

Outside, Maugrim, Aidan, and the Wolves weren't too far away from the Beavers' dam, and Aidan was hoping and praying that the Beavers, Ellamae, Fritz, and the children were already gone. When the dam was in sight, Maugrim stopped, as did the other Wolves, waiting and panting in the cold air.

Maugrim then turned after a glance at the Beavers' dam to his Wolves. "Take them."

* * *

Chloe, unsure of what else to hand Mrs. Beaver and frustrated at how long this was taking, crept up to one of the windows. Careful not to knock down the chair that was blocking it, she moved as close to the window as she could to peek outside. What she saw made her gasp and she could not stifle a yelp of fright. Everyone else in the house jumped, startled by her cry.

Einar, acting up at a strange scent, woofed softly beside Chloe, and then barked and growled.

"What is it, Chloe?" Peter asked, watching as she quickly backed away from the window.

Fritz was startled by Einar's barking and hastily pulled on his leash, yanking the dog away from the window. The dog whined from the sudden sharp pain but Fritz quickly relaxed on the leash and pat him on the head as an apology.

Chloe looked with terrified green eyes to the others, finding her voice again. "They're here, can we go now? Please? Without the kitchen sink?" Her last remark was directed at Mrs. Beaver.

Mrs. Beaver, startled by Chloe's remark, was now a bit more jumpy herself. "Oh! Right, then!"

As everyone quickly gathered their packs, Mr. Beaver bolted to the back room and flung open a trapdoor. "Come on," he barked, "down the tunnel!"

As the Wolves outside were digging into all the doors and windows of the dam, the Beavers, the Pevensies, Ellamae, and Fritz dragging his barking dog jumped down the trapdoor just before any of the Wolves burst in. Before they got any further into the tunnel, Fritz turned around and saw the trapdoor open, and poked his head out to find the door's latch.

"C'mon, we've gotta get outta here!" Mr. Beaver shouted at Fritz, tugging on his foot.

Fritz glanced down at Mr. Beaver and shrugged. "Vell, ve shouldn't let ze Volves have easy access to us, should ve? It vill slow zem down." With that, he reached up and slammed the door shut over his head, throwing them into darkness save for the lit torch held by Peter further in.

Ellamae almost stumbled into the tunnel, and her wings were fluttering wildly and exploding with showers of pink sparks, trying to focus on where she was. Everyone passed her, Peter and Susan almost trampling her, but Fritz, being the last one in the tunnel and having been around her long enough to recognize her glow-in-the-dark Fairy dust when she's excited, swept his hand down behind her, scooped her up into his arms, and carried her with him like holding a small kitten.

Chloe, still wide-eyed with fear, especially in this cramped tunnel, was ahead of Peter and Susan due to her strong desire to get away from the Wolves but was now remembering her other phobia: the dark. With Peter's torch behind her, she could scarcely see what was ahead in the tunnel and now stopped in her tracks, trembling as she whimpered, "Peter…"

She then felt Lucy's hand take hers and her friend's voice tell her, "It's okay, Chloe. Come on."

Chloe, embarrassed by this younger girl's bravery relative to her own, could only whimper slightly again and was relieved once Peter, Susan, and the torch caught up to them.

Suddenly, everyone came to an abrupt stop when they came to a dead end in the tunnel. Fritz was the last one to stop, and when he saw the dead end, he almost dropped Ellamae, who gasped and flapped her wings, trying to hold on to his arm.

Mrs. Beaver gasped, horrified. "You should've brought a map!" she cried at Mr. Beaver.

Mr. Beaver huffed, frustrated. "I couldn't fit it in the bag next to the jam!" At this, he looked up, sniffing the air, and at spotting another hole in the wall with moonlight gleaming through it, he jumped through it, followed by Mrs. Beaver, and the others climbed up and crawled through it till they reached the outside.

As they all scrambled out of the hole and Peter, Fritz, and Mr. Beaver were pushing a barrel over the opening, Lucy tripped over something hard and fell on her seat in the snow. Peter, Fritz, and Mr. Beaver turned to see if she was all right, and they all looked down at what Lucy tripped over; it was a small stone statue of a Squirrel holding a spoon in his mouth, but with a terrified expression on his face. All stood still for a moment, glancing around at other silent little houses, all of the Animal inhabitants turned to stone, with snow already starting to mound up on their backs.

Mr. Beaver looked to his left, and he stopped, his mouth dropping open, and his eyes almost turning misty; a few feet away from him was the statue of a Badger, standing up on his hind legs, and starting to cover his terrified face with his front paws.

As Mr. Beaver touched the stone Badger's snow-covered shoulder, Mrs. Beaver touched her husband's shoulder, and said, "I'm so sorry, dear."

Mr. Beaver was silent for a moment, and then said, "He was my best mate."

Ellamae was still looking at the stone Squirrel Lucy had tripped over, when she noticed other small figures on the ground, and flew down from Fritz's shoulder for a better look as Einar whined a little and sniffed at a stone Bulldog standing in the doorway of one of the nearby huts. As she looked more closely at the other stone figures, Ellamae's wings and antennae perked up as she clapped a hand to her mouth and gasped. She realized that they were smaller baby Squirrels, from the looks on their faces terrified and squealing as they started to huddle near their father before they died.

Ellamae's wings and antennae then drooped as she sniffed and her eyes grew misty. "Even the young had to die," she muttered, her voice choking up as she ran her hand over one of the baby Squirrels' faces.

Lucy scrambled to her feet and stood next to Susan and Chloe, all three girls looking like they were about to become nearly as emotional as Ellamae. In a second, however, they were all startled to hear a new voice.

"This is what becomes of those who cross the Witch." All heads turned to see a Fox appear from behind a rock, smirking.

Mr. Beaver's mournful look disappeared instantly and was replaced with one of pure anger. "You come any closer, traitor, and I'll tear you to splinters!" He, in fact, started to move towards the Fox but Mrs. Beaver held him back.

The Fox laughed slightly. "Relax. I'm one of the good guys," he said, coming closer despite Mr. Beaver's warning.

"Funny, 'cause you look an awful lot like one of the bad ones!" Mr. Beaver snapped, pulling against Mrs. Beaver's grip.

"An unfortunate family resemblance," the Fox replied with a sigh. "But we can argue breeding later. Right now we need to move."

"Ha! Yeah, right, I wouldn't trust you as far as the missus could throw you," Mr. Beaver argued, though he quickly added to his wife, "No offense, dear."

"Beaver! Take it down a notch, will you?" Another Wolf, a female by the sound of her voice, crept out from behind a tree. It was hard to tell in the overcast night, but her fur seemed to be a golden color. Chloe couldn't help but admire it and wonder if it would shine in the sunlight. "Hard as it is to believe sometimes, he really _is_ on our side. Listen to him."

As the Wolf approached them, Chloe took notice of the color of her eyes—a rich chocolate brown that was vaguely familiar but Chloe wasn't sure how.

Fritz, just as startled as the rest of them, whipped around at the Fox, Einar growling and barking on instinct, and reached to his belt for his Luger. Then his eyes widened as he looked to the Fox, and down at his holster; his handgun was gone. Alarmed that he was unarmed, he yanked on his Dog's leash again and Einar yelped and whined.

At the sight of the Fox, Ellamae's wings and antennae shot up, and she flitted up onto Chloe's shoulder. She then peeked out from behind Chloe's hair, curiously glancing at the she-Wolf. "Lark?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

The she-Wolf, Lark, shook her head. "It doesn't matter right now. You all have to keep moving, or—" She cut herself off, her ears perking up as if listening for something. "Everyone hide, right now. Those of you who can climb, I recommend this tree right here. Those who can't"—in this instance, she was looking at Einar—"find somewhere else. Quickly! They'll be upon you in moments!" With that, she took off somewhere out of sight.

The Fox glanced after Lark and then to the children and the Beavers. "Just do what she says, I'll distract them."

Everyone seemed to space out for a moment, suddenly realizing that the Fox and Lark were on their side, and then started doing as they were told. Before Fritz started climbing up the tree, though, he led Einar behind some thick bushes and tied his Dog's leash to a nearby tree trunk. As he was securing a tight knot, he whispered to Einar, "Stay, boy, and keep kviet." Einar whined a little, and from the Dog's sad expression, he was reminded of his empty holster, where his hand Luger should have been. He then huffed, smirking, and added, "Sorry, boy, I vas just as scared as you vere." After a pat on his Dog's head, he whispered, "Now, lay low, and stay kviet until ve come for you." He then started climbing up the tree, helping Lucy and Chloe on the way up.

They did not climb the tree a moment too soon. Once they were high in its branches, the Wolves emerged from the tunnel, only to meet the Fox. Growling, they slowly surrounded him, cutting off any way of escape. All while this occurred, the Fox began to speak.

"Hello, gents," he greeted, laughing a little nervously. "Lost something, have we?"

"Don't patronize me!" Maugrim snarled in response. "I know where your allegiance lies. Where are the humans?"

"Humans in Narnia? Since when did that happen?" the Fox questioned but Aidan roughly seized him in his jaws, causing him to yelp in pain.

Up in the trees, everyone was terrified for the Fox's life, especially Susan, Lucy, and Chloe, but Peter and Fritz clapped their hands over the girls' mouths.

As Fritz sat between Lucy and Chloe, he covered their mouths, and as he took them away, he gently squeezed their arms and whispered, "Steady, steady."

He was then reminded of his Dog, Einar, and his eyes widened and his jaw dropped open. He looked down from the tree and peeked at Einar down behind the bushes where he had been instructed to hide. Einar was a good, obedient, and intelligent Dog but as he watched the talking Fox being tortured by talking Wolves, he appeared to be in much confusion and fear as his ears folded back and now and then he whined.

"Your reward is your life!" growled Maugrim to the Fox. "It's not much," he laughed, "but still…"

As this was going on, Ellamae looked down at Einar herself, and she used the Fox's predicament as an opportunity for distraction. She then glided down from the tree and into the bushes next to Einar. Hugging the Dog's paw, Ellamae looked up at Einar, and stroking his leg, she whispered, "It's all right, boy, it's all right, stay calm."

Aidan realized he was biting the Fox too hard but he had no remedy for that now. He'd have to apologize later, and he hoped the Fox would make up some sort of answer so he wouldn't have to kill him.

The Fox winced, still in pain, but sighed as if he was about to commit a terrible betrayal and was ashamed of himself. "North. They ran north."

"Smell them out," Maugrim ordered the other Wolves, and they started to rush off in the direction the Fox pointed them. Aidan released him, tossing him aside into the snow.

Chloe watched the Wolves leave and grew considerably calmer once they were out of sight.

As the Wolves disappeared north, everyone up in the tree sighed with relief. With that, they all started to climb down from the tree to tend to the Fox. Ellamae and Einar came out from the bushes, with the Dog curiously sniffing the Fox to see if he was still alive.

A few minutes later, the group built a bonfire for everyone to get warm while Mrs. Beaver tended to the Fox's wound.

Moments later, Aidan returned, panting. "You'd be surprised how hard it is to sneak away from those guys…" He looked over at the Fox. "You holding up okay?"

"I wish I could say your bark is worse than your bite," the Fox answered him. "I thought we rehearsed this, Aidan. You weren't supposed to—OW!" he yelped at Mrs. Beaver.

"Oh, stop squirming. You're worse than Beaver on bath day," she told him.

Mr. Beaver looked over at the children. "Worst day of the year," he said matter-of-factly.

Peter, on the other hand, rose to his feet as soon as he saw Aidan. "Whose side are you on, anyway?!" he demanded angrily.

Aidan, taken aback by Peter's outburst, hesitated before answering calmly, "Why don't you ask your brother that?"

Peter moved dangerously toward the Wolf. "Don't you dare throw that one back in my face, you—"

"What're you gonna do? Strangle me with your bare hands? Don't forget, I've got claws and teeth—you don't stand a chance, just ask Fox—" Aidan teased, but he was interrupted by Lark.

"Aidan! Don't forget who you're speaking to!"

Aidan glanced over at Lark. "The king, right, my bad, but if you ask me, he could use a little attitude adjustment."

Lark only responded with a low growl, to which Aidan said nothing, turning back to Peter.

"My apologies, Your Majesty," he said, very subdued. "I'll explain myself immediately. I'm a spy, you see—I really am on Aslan's side but Jadis thinks I'm on hers. I kind of have to keep that illusion going if I want to help anyone, including myself at this point."

"And this spy jig, if you ask me, is stupid and dangerous. Any day now you're going to get caught, and then she'll kill you," Lark interrupted.

"Really? It's dangerous? I could die? I had no idea! With how smart she is, and my loose tongue, I thought it would be the easiest, safest job I could ever have," Aidan snapped at her. "Shut up, Lark. No one asked you," he added, not in the least bit sarcastic.

"When you're made of stone, don't come crying to me," she said simply.

Aidan sighed with annoyance and muttered under his breath, "If I was made of stone, I couldn't come crying to you, could I?" But he watched the three Pevensies, Chloe, and Fritz, and added quickly before Lark could say anything else, "Any questions?"

Fritz's eyes narrowed as he watched Peter, Aidan, and Lark argue with disgust but certainly no surprise. _First he argues viz me vhen I came here just as confused as he is, immediately assumink me an enemy even if I am viz one of his friends, ze little Fairy, _he thought, _zhen he turns on zose whom he considers his REAL friends. As ze rate he's goink and especially if he's goink to be a king, who vill be his friends or subjects? In my opinion, his court vould be pretty small. If he is to be a king at all._ At this thought, Fritz could only huff and shake his head before he looked to Ellamae and Einar again.

Einar was sitting next to Fritz while Ellamae was trying to tend to the Fox's wound with Mrs. Beaver. On hearing Peter's highly emotional outbursts, Ellamae perked up, her antennae pointing straight up and her slightly fluttering wings emitting sparks of pink and blue light, a few even red as they illuminated new sparks of blood in her angry face.

Finally, the Fairy voiced what Fritz was thinking silently when she heard Aidan ask the humans if they had any questions. "I may have one, Aidan," she responded, "for Peter, although your question didn't pertain to me." Peter looked to Ellamae, and with a slight bow of her head, she coolly asked, "With all due respect to Your Majesty, what right do you have shooting Aidan down, someone who just saved your life, and the rest of our lives as well? In Aidan's defense, you're not king yet. And I thought the conduct of a king was to gather as many followers as possible, that means getting them on your side." With that, the group fell silent, as Ellamae kept looking at a now indignant Peter.

Aidan was surprised by Ellamae's own outburst and cleared his throat, knowing from the look on Peter's face that he wasn't going to say anything, anyway. "You know what, that's enough. If anyone owes anyone an apology, it's me. Peter, you're dealing with a lot right now, one huge thing being that your brother's life is at risk. Then there's my seemingly contradictory actions—understandably confusing—and instead of explaining myself right away, I chose to be the rather cheeky fellow that I am. I feel that it would be unfair to expect you to remain calm, especially after all this, and I'm sure I haven't even covered half of it. So starting right now, you ask, I answer directly. No beating around the bush, so to speak."

Peter sat back down, not looking at anyone for a moment. He glanced back up at Aidan. "How's Edmund?" he asked.

"He and Spike got sent to the dungeon right before I had to leave. He _should_ be okay right now. The bad news: he told her you were at the Beavers'. The good news: that's all he said. And I managed to cause a distraction before Spike could add anything, like about Aslan, but to do that, I had to rat out Icis," Aidan explained, sending a glance Ellamae's way, curious as to how she would take that.

Ellamae glanced up at Aidan when he mentioned Icis, but she then sighed and hung her head. _Poor Icis, _she thought, _that she had to come to this…well, I guess only Aslan can help her now as well._

On hearing Ellamae's rebuke at Peter, Fritz raised his eyebrows and rubbed his chin, trying to hide a smirk. _Vell spoken, Ellamae,_ he thought. He then looked to Aidan again. "Speakink of ze colonel," he spoke up, "have ve any uzzer veapons? I believe he stole my handgun. After our little—ahem—close encounter viz ze Vhite Vitch's Volves, I sink ve vill need all ze protection ve can get."

Aidan winced. "That colonel is just insistent on being a pain in everyone's—eh, never mind. No, Fritz, I'm afraid we're lacking in the weapons department. Our best bet is to get to Aslan as fast as we can."

"We?" Lark questioned. "You're going with them? What about your all-important cover?" she added in a mocking tone.

Aidan glanced at her. "I figure with the colonel around, it'll be over soon enough anyway, so why worry my dear sister further by being around when they find me out?" He stuck out his tongue at her. "And what do you mean by 'them'? You're not coming with us?"

Lark shook her head. "Fox and I have a different assignment."

"We were sent to gather more troops for Aslan's army," the Fox explained, and then added in a lower voice, "by the Lion himself."

Aidan's jaw dropped.

"You've seen Aslan?" Mr. Beaver spoke up.

"What was he like?" Mrs. Beaver added excitedly.

The Fox smiled a little. "Like everything we've ever imagined."

The children watched the discourse between these Animals in silence until Susan finally chimed in.

"But…we're not fighting any witch," she said, indicating herself and the other children.

The Fox stared at her in disbelief as Aidan rolled his eyes with increasing annoyance.

"How many times do we have to explain this—we can't go to war without you," he said, not even bothering to stifle any frustration in his voice.

"Surely, King Peter—" the Fox nearly pleaded, looking right at him.

Peter glanced at Aidan and the Fox, then at the girls before he looked at the ground again. After a moment of silence, he said simply, "We just want our brother back."

The rest remained silent, and Fritz and Ellamae glanced at each other and down at Einar on the ground, when the Dog nuzzled his master's hand and whined softly.


End file.
